ER Book 2: Natalia
by Show Expert 1
Summary: After the defeat of E.R.6., Natsu and his team have come to encounter another one of E.R.'s units. This unit is much tougher and stronger than the previous one. This fight will also determine the fate of former E.R. member, Natalia. Natalia's fate of being part of Fairy Tail
1. Natalia's Fear

AN: Keep in mind that I wrote the prequel to this story before the first chapter of 100 Year Quest story arc came out.

Sunlight shined through in Magnolia. In a certain room with beautiful flowers, the light shined through and woke up the woman. The girl woke up and stared out into the sun. For those who have forgotten, this woman is named Natalia. She was once part of a sinister affiliation known as E.R., also known as Eclear Revival. E.R. is an organization sought to locate and revive a dangerous man named Eclear. Natalia was a member, but she has become part of Fairy Tail now.

"A brand new day. I wonder what Fairy Tail is up to today." Natalia said. She got dressed and was on her way out. When Natalia became a part of Fairy Tail, she moved in Fairy Hills with the rest of the female members. Natalia was on her way out when she spotted Erza, Carla, and Wendy. "Morning."

"Oh. Good morning, Natalia." Wendy said. She was friendly, but Erza and Carla were careful around her.

"Another day, another chance to earn some cash." Natalia said as she was on her way out. Wendy took noticed of how Carla and Erza were looking at her.

"Are you two still on guard around Natalia?" Wendy questioned.

"Well of course." Carla said. "Don't forget that she was once our enemy. She claims that the only reason she joined was because of Natsu."

"Carla has a point, Wendy." Erza said. "Natalia was a crafty and sneaky one when we fought her and the rest of E.R.6. at Enchants."

"I know, but it's already been about a month since Natalia has joined the guild and she really hasn't done anything." Wendy said.

"Nevertheless, she isn't one we should trust so easy." Carla said. Natsu and his team haven't truly accepted Natalia as a part of Fairy Tail yet since she was at first their enemy. The only reason Natalia joined the guild was because she felt she owes Natsu since he saved her life. The rest of the guild has appeared to have accepted.

…

Natalia

Natalia has grown quite accustomed to Magnolia. It was a quaint little town to her and she didn't really seem to mind it. As she made her way through the town, she passed by some people and buildings, she looked around at all of them.

"Look at all of them. All of them going around acting like they have simple and happy lives." Natalia said. As she was walking through the streets, someone was watching her from the rooftops and it was a cold stare. Natalia thought something was wrong, but when she turned in the direction of the person, there wasn't a sign of anyone. That didn't settle Natalia as she had a bad feeling about this.

….

The Guild

"Here you go, Natsu." Mira said as she handed Natsu and Happy some juice. People were starting to gather at the guild and Natsu and Happy were already there with them at the bar counter.

"Thanks, Mira." Natsu said.

"You're the best." Happy said and they helped themselves. As the two helped themselves to some the juice, Natalia spotted Natsu and walked right over to him.

"Hello, Natsu." Natalia said with a flirting tone. Another thing about Natalia, she has a thing for Natsu.

"Oh. You again." Natsu said with some annoyance. Happy was a little nervous with Natalia being around.

"So are you still with that blonde who has her head in the stars?" Natalia said as rubbed Natsu's muscles.

"Yeah. He is and she's right behind you." Natalia noticed Lucy right behind them and she was giving a look that was saying Natalia should move away. "Natalia, Natsu is with me, remember?"

"I know, but I can have my fun with Natsu." Natalia said. "I'll see you around, Natsu." She said as she caressed his face and walked away. Lucy took a seat next to Natsu and Natsu placed his arm around her.

"She's as annoying as Gray." Natsu said.

"Hey! I heard that." All of them looked to the side and saw Gray walking towards them. "Let me guess. Natalia again."

"Yeah. She makes me uncomfortable whenever she comes by." Happy said.

"Guys, I know Natalia was your enemy, but don't you think you're all being unfair to her? We've had a some enemies that became our friends." Mirajane said. "She's been in Fairy Tail for about a month and the worst that she's done is flirt with Natsu while he's with Lucy."

"If Natalia really was serious about being part of Fairy Tail, she tell us where the left of E.R. is." Natsu said as he slammed his fist against the counter. "The 100 year quest is technically left unfinished and that really bugs me. It's not complete until we take down all of E.R. and one of them is right here with us."

"Calm down." Gray said. "I doubt Natalia could tell us even if she wanted to. There are three main units of E.R. out there, but they operate in the shadows and are always moving. No one even knows where they are. They could be anywhere in the world really. That also means that they probably don't interact with each other. Natalia's unit might be locked up, but she probably has no idea where the rest of them could be."

"Gray's got a point." Lucy said. "We won't be able to take down anyone in E.R. until we find them. We haven't heard anything form Princess Rose or Platinum Angel. All we can do is wait until they show up."

….

Natalia

Natalia stepped outside to get some air and felt a nice breeze going through. She took it all in and felt like she didn't have a worry in the world.

"Gajeel, I'm not made out of glass." Natalia looked further down to see Levy with Panther Lily. "I'm only a few months pregnant. It's not like I'm bloated or anything."

"Excuse me for being careful." Gajeel said.

"It's natural that someone who is about to be a father would be concerned with the mother of his child." Panther Lily said.

"I see that she's doing well." Natalia said as she came over to them.

"Hi, Natalia." Levy said. "Yeah. I'm doing okay, but this iron head is treating me like I'm the most fragile thing in the world."

"You're the one who keeps telling me I have to take the responsibilities of a father serious!" Gajeel said.

"Don't yell at me!" Levy said.

"Okay. It seems like you two have some stuff to work out. So I'll just walk down by the lake." Natalia said and was on her way.

"I get that Lucy doesn't like Natalia flirting with Natsu, but Natalia doesn't seem like that bad of a person." Levy said.

"Yeah. She doesn't even look that tough for a fight." Gajeel said. Levy just smacked him in the arm for that. "What was that even for? What did I say?" Levy ignored the question and went back in the guild. "What's her problem now?"

"You think too much of fighting and commented that Natalia doesn't look strong." Panther Lily said. "You should know better than that." Gajeel was getting annoyed himself and just followed her inside. Natalia walked by the lake and looked down at her reflection. She looked back on what has happened with her this past month and stared at her guild mark on her thigh.

'I must admit, this guild isn't all that bad.' Natalia thought. 'It's never boring here and people do know how to keep things interesting.' Natalia continued to stare down at her reflection, but was cut off when she saw ice was forming over the water. "What?"

"You are aware that this means trouble for you." Natalia was quite surprised because she knew that voice. Natalia slowly turned her head to the side and began to get anxious. Standing there was a man with tanned skin and had black curly hair. He wore a purple dress shirt with a white buttoned vest and a pale-yellow tie and wore white pants.

"Kojishi?!" Natalia said.

"It's been a while hasn't it, Natalia?" Kojishi said.

"What are you even doing here?" Natalia said.

"I got word that E.R.6. was actually arrested a month ago, but you managed to escape." Kojishi said. "You actually joined a legal guild. You know that's not going to do well for you, right? What could have possessed you that you would actually join a guild?"

"That's my business." Natalia said as she was slowly backing away out of fear.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kojishi said and swiped his arm. Blocks of ice instantly formed on the ground and cut off Natalia's escape route. Natalia looked at the reflection in the ice and saw flash images of destruction and chaos with the tears of a child. Natalia couldn't handle it as she screamed at the top of her lungs and dropped to her knees. "You haven't change. Let's just make it easy and come with me." Kojishi stepped towards her and he was ready to take her away. Natalia was too paralyzed with fear to move or fight back. Kojishi was about to take her, but he heard a cracking sound come his ice. He turned to it and saw a block break to pieces with Natsu coming through.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu tried to strike him, but Kojishi jumped back and avoided the attack. Kojishi sensed another attack coming. He looked up and saw Erza coming down at him with a sword in her hands. She tried slashing at him, but Kojishi formed a shield of ice and stopped the attack. Erza jumped back and stood with Natsu as they were both ready to fight. Kojishi looked around and saw some of the other members coming.

"What's going on here? Identify yourself." Erza said in a demanding tone, but Kojishi refused to answer. Everyone kept their guard up around this guy. Lucy look towards Natalia and saw she was still shaken up.

"Natalia?" Lucy questioned. She and Happy went over to her. When they touched her, they could feel her shaking.

"What's wrong with her? Is she freezing from all this ice?" Happy questioned. Lucy looked around and remembered something else about Natalia.

"No. She's shaking out of fear. I almost forgot. Natalia has a fear of ice magic." Lucy said.

"That's right." Kojishi said. "She's actually had that fear since she was a child. Obviously, she hasn't gotten over it yet."

"So she's afraid of ice? So what?" Natsu said. He didn't care about any of that. He was just looking for a fight.

"How would you know how long Natalia's had this fear?" Erza said. "I also asked you to identify yourself. Who are you and what do you want?"

"My name is Kojishi. What I want is for Natalia to come with me. As for how I know of Natalia's fear, that one is simple. It's because I'm the one who placed the fear inside her." That was a surprise to those who didn't know. As Natalia shook in fear, everyone one wonders the same thing. Who is this Kojishi and what connection does he have to Natalia?


	2. Arrival of the Seven

Everything started out normal, but that all changed. Natalia came faced with Kojishi, a mysterious ice wizard. Natalia screamed from the sight of the ice and that alerted the guild of her in trouble. Natsu and his friends hurried outside and came to face him, but Kojishi revealed that he was the one who placed the fear of ice magic in Natalia.

"You did that? You made her afraid of ice magic?" Erza said.

"In a way, I did. It all happened she was just a child." Kojishi said. "Just look at her." All of them took a look back at Natalia and she was shaking in fear as she held herself.

'I know Natalia and I hardly get along, but I hate seeing her like this.' Lucy thought. 'She looks like a poor scared little child.' "Hey. It's okay. Just try and relax."

"Just who is this guy?" Gray asked.

"I already said that my name is Kojishi. I'm a member of E.R." Kojishi said. Hearing he was a member of E.R. was a high alert to Natsu and the others.

"You're with E.R.? That's all I need to know." Natsu said as he had some flames around his fist and he went to attack. Natalia snapped out of it and saw what Natsu was doing.

"No! Don't fight him!" Natalia shouted, but it was too late. Natsu was about to strike him, but Kojishi was able to catch his fist and Natsu's arm began to freeze.

"Woo! That's real cold!" Natsu said as he pulled away, but his arm was frozen solid and he could barely feel it anymore.

"I would be careful if I were you." Kojishi said. "One wrong move and you could cause your entire arm to shatter into pieces."

"Have a taste of my ice!" Gray said. "Ice-Make: Saucer!" Gray formed a spinning blade and shot it straight at Kojishi. Kojishi didn't even flinch. He just simply jumped out of the way of the attack. Kojishi saw Erza attacked as she swung her sword at him, but he used his ice to block the attack.

"Did you get him, Erza?" Wendy said.

"Don't just stand around." Erza said to them while keeping her focus on Kojishi. "Chances are that he's not alone. Keep your guard up. The rest of his unit could be around."

"You don't need to worry." Kojishi said as he began to freeze the sword. Erza let go and moved away from him and they both hit the ground. Erza's sword was completely frozen and it easily shattered. If he could do that to a sword, some of them were nervous what he could do to them "I came here alone. It would have been easier for Natalia, but it's obvious you're not going to give her up. Natalia, be aware. E.R.7. will be on their way."

"E.R.7.?" Carla said.

"Natalia's old group was known as E.R.6. Does the number difference mean they're stronger or what?" Gray said.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Kojishi said. Kojishi exerted some of his magic and it created a mist that made it difficult for them to see. Wendy used some of her magic to clear away the mist, but Kojishi was already gone.

"What was that about?" Natsu questioned. Erza turned to Natalia and saw she was still uneasy, but she's the only one that holds answers as to what was going on.

…

Later

A while later, everyone was taking care of the damage that was done around the place. Mira gave Natalia some tea to warm her up and try to get her to calm down. However, Natalia really hasn't moved. She just sat at a table and was lost in thought.

'E.R.7 is really on its way here?' Natalia thought. 'This is bad. E.R.7 are all trained assassins. They're all ruthless. I guess I should have expected that. I left E.R. and joined an actual guild. Maybe it's for the best. Natsu and the others don't really want me here.' Natalia was so distracted that she didn't notice anyone until her shirt was pulled. She looked down and spotted little Asuka and she had a paper with her. "Oh! You're that kid that hangs around here."

"Uh-huh. My name is Asuka."

"So what do you want?" Natalia questioned. Asuka handed her the paper. Natalia took it and saw it was a drawing of her using her plant magic.

"You seemed so sad and Natsu's being mean to you for no reason." Asuka said. "I thought you might like it." Asuka didn't even wait for her to respond as she left. Natalia didn't even know what to think. No one has really done something like this for her before. Meanwhile, everyone else was talking about what just happened.

"How's your arm, Natsu?" Romeo asked.

"A lot better." Natsu said as he was able to thaw his arm out.

"This Kojishi sounds like a dangerous man." Makarov said as he moved around in his wheelchair.

"Yes. His use of ice magic was dangerous. If any of us were caught by it like Natsu, I shudder at what might have happened." Erza said.

"And you say it was Natalia who he was after?" Laxus questioned.

"Yeah." Lucy said. "This guy is in E.R. just like she was. Perhaps he was trying to get her back, but that doesn't really make sense. He said another unit is on their way and it didn't sound like it was the one he belongs to."

"Apparently, he's also the one who made Natalia afraid of ice magic." Carla said. "I wonder what could have happened in the past that could have caused it."

"Let's see if we can find out. Natalia, could you please come over here." Makarov said. Natalia got up from her spot and walked right over to them. "Natalia, is what that man told us true? Is he the reason you're afraid of ice magic?"

"Yes." Natalia said. "It happened back when I was just a child. The experience was so terrifying, but that could scar anyone."

"What happened?" Mirajane asked, but Natalia appeared to be withdrawing herself as she was holding herself.

"I don't really want to talk about it." Natalia said. "You all have much bigger things to worry about. Kojishi told you that E.R.7 will be on their way here and they'll be coming for me. I guess I should have known this was bound to happen."

"Yeah. You should have." Gray said as he was starting to act cold towards her again. "Of course your old friends would come here and attack us because you're here."

"They're not my friends." Natalia said.

"Whoever they are doesn't matter." Gray said as he got right in front of her. "The point is that this is all happening because of you. We only helped you against that guy because he was causing trouble, but trouble seems to be what you bring and we don't tolerate people that bring trouble to our guild."

"Gray, that's enough!" Makarov said.

"Yeah. You're being a little unfair." Laxus said, but Gray wasn't really listening.

"Just face it, Natalia. You don't belong here and we don't want you here. So why don't you just make it easy on everyone and just turn yourself in to the Magic Council." Gray said and walked past her with him bumping his shoulder against her. Hearing Gray say those things actually caused Natalia to shake as if she was in pain.

"My darling shot her down. That will teach her to be with my man." Juvia said with some creepy smile.

"You are aware that she's afraid of ice magic?! So I doubt she flirt with Gray! Not to mention she's into my Natsu!" Lucy said. Makarov didn't approve of what Gray just said to Natalia and he is going to put an end to this behavior.

…

The Train Station

Meanwhile, the station in Magnolia went on as if everything was usual. Some dark clouds were starting to come in like the trains themselves. The train workers continued on with their business, but they noticed a strange train coming in. It was jet black and had only a few carts with the engine pulling in. It was strange for they never saw that train pull in before. It opened up and four people came out.

"So this is Magnolia?"

"Yes. It would seem so. That means the guild that she's in is close."

"Excuse me, but who are you?" An employee said.

"Just get out of the way." After saying that, everything turned to calamity in the station.

…

The Guild

"Don't you guys think Gray was a little harsh to Natalia?" Wendy asked.

"I guess that could have gone better." Lucy said. "Natalia just went through something traumatic to her, but Gray just talked to her like he didn't care how she was feeling. That was a little uncalled for."

"Yeah, but you can see his point." Natsu said.

"Perhaps he's right." Natalia said. "Maybe I should just leave for a while. I'm the one E.R.7. will be after. Perhaps if I leave, they'll leave the guild alone."

"Absolutely not." Makarov said with a strong and stern voice.

"Yeah. How else are we suppose to fight these guy?" Natsu said.

"Not what I meant." Makarov said. "In fact, this is a good opportunity because I don't approve of how you all have been treating poor Natalia lately." He turned his attention towards Natalia and all of them were paying attention. "Natalia, we have a few friends that use to be our enemies. Some are even right here in this guild. You knew that when you joined the guild. It doesn't matter who you are or where you came from. Your past no longer matters the moment you placed that emblem on you. You're a proud member of Fairy Tail now. You're one of my Fairy Tail children and I will die before I let anyone take you away." It reminded Natsu and the others how things were with their old enemies turned friends and it made them feel bad about how they treated Natalia. Natalia was touched by those words, but it doesn't really change how she thought. "Erza, could you please go get Gray so I can scold him for his behavior?"

"Of course." Erza said and was on her way out to get Gray. As for Natalia, she returned to the tables.

'Foolish old man. You don't know a thing about my past.' Natalia thought. After hearing what Makarov just said, Natsu and the others felt bad for how they treated her.

"I guess we have been a little unfair to Natalia." Lucy said.

"Yeah. I guess we haven't really given Natalia a chance just like we did with Gajeel and Juvia." Happy said.

"I never I thought I would forgive Jellal for making Erza cry, but I guess at one point I did." Natsu said. "Besides, she didn't really do anything bad like those other guys did. Maybe she's not really all that bad."

"It's never too late to apologize." Wendy said.

"Wendy's right. Let's do that right now." Lucy said and they were in agreement, but just before they could, the doors to the guild blew open.

"Whoa! What was that?" Gajeel said.

"Hang on. Someone's there." Laxus said. The dust was clearing away and showed three people were standing there. Natalia noticed them and she was quite shocked with what she saw.

"Oh no! It's them." Natalia said. Few in the actual numbers, but it would appear that E.R.7. has arrived to take Natalia away from Fairy Tail.


	3. Repaying a Debt

E.R.7. has arrived at the guild, but there's really only three of them attacking the guild. They came for Natalia. Natalia looked towards each one of them and was able to identify each one of them.

"So this is Fairy Tail? I was expecting something to look more impressive since they defeated E.R.6." A woman said as she adjusted her glasses. She wore fishnet leggings and heels with a black dress that had long sleeves and stopped at around her thighs that also showed some cleavage. She also wore black gloves and blonde hair.

"Kallie!" Natalia said.

"So what? We're stronger than them anyway. These guys don't look that tough to me." One was a guy that had dark grey spikey hair. He wore a suit with the jacket opened.

"Jaccu!" Natalia said.

"It doesn't matter. We're here for only one reason." The third wore a suit as well with him wearing a black dress shirt and white tie. He also had orange hair shaped like flames.

"Rod!" Natalia said.

"Who are you?! Are you guys from E.R.?" Natsu questioned.

"Indeed we are. We are three members of E.R.7." Rod said. "I'll be blunt and get directly to the point. We demand that you hand over the one known as Natalia. Do that and things won't have to get bad for you." Natsu wasn't listening as he just jumped right at them.

"Things got bad for you when you just trashed our guild and attacked us!" Natsu said as he had some fire form around his fist and was about to attack. Natsu tossed it forward, but Rod acted quickly and was able to grab Natsu by the wrist. He diverted the attack and kicked Natsu right in the gut. That kick held a lot of force behind it. It could have pierced right through Natsu's gut if there was any more power to it. Rod hit Natsu across the face and had him slide against the ground.

"The dude had a lot of guts making a move like that. Doesn't that hot bastard know who we are?" Jaccu said.

"Let the poor fool try. I wasn't expecting this to go without a fight." Kallie said. Natsu managed to get back on his feet. He was surprised by what Rod did, but that wasn't stopping him.

"Not a bad punch you threw there, but is that really all you can do?" Natsu questioned. Rod didn't make any sort of movement, but he suddenly disappeared. He actually teleported behind Natsu and drove his foot right against Natsu's back and sent him flying right outside the guild.

"Don't try to sound so cocky." Rod said as he walked right outside. "I know fully well who you are. You're the infamous Salamander. Your power and reckless behavior is pretty well known. Although, I find it hard to believe looking at you now."

"You want to make something of it?" Natsu said. Rod did as he teleported again and slammed his foot right down on Natsu's head and held him down. Natsu tried to get back up.

"Don't even think about it." Rod said as he held his fingers like a gun and used bullet magic to shoot right at Natsu and Natsu felt like actual bullets were piercing through him.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted. Natalia stood there and watched as she heard Natsu's screams. She knows to well of what Rod is like.

'This is bad. Each one of E.R.7. is dangerous in their own way, but Rod is the deadliest of all of them.' Natalia thought.

"That's it! No one is going to pummel Salamander around, but me!" Gajeel said as he was ready to fight as well as some other members of the guild. Jaccu intercepted all that fighting spirit.

"No you don't." Jaccu said as he took a familiar stance. "Iron-Make: Shotgun!" Jaccu thrusted out his hand and shot out pieces of iron like they were bullets. Some members tried to take cover, but some weren't so lucky.

"No way. He uses maker magic like Gray, but he uses iron instead of ice." Gajeel said as he kept Levy down. Kallie moved herself as she appeared to just slip past some members so quickly.

"Too easy." Kallie said as she adjusted her glasses and suddenly they all dropped like dominos. Kallie flipped back and spun around on her hands and slammed her legs against some of the other members.

"That's it!" Natsu said. "Fire Dragon Talon!" He tried swinging his leg back, but Rod moved out of the way. He grabbed Natsu's ankle and slammed him against the ground. Rod tossed Natsu in the air and kicked him right in the gut. Natsu was sent flying, but Rod suddenly appeared next to him and kicked him back to the guild.

"Enough of this!" Laxus said as he turned into lightning and tried to attack, but Jaccu was quicker.

"Iron-Make: Prison!" Jaccu formed a cage that Laxus got caught in and it was so small that he could barely move around in it.

"The hell? Let me out!" Laxus said as he tried to get out.

"I have this!" Gajeel said as he was about to strike, but Kallie moved faster than he did and slammed her knee right against the back of his head and knocked him down.

"Gajeel!" Levy shouted. Kallie was about to strike her too, but Lily stood in the way and took the kick for her.

"How dare you treat Laxus like that?" Jaccu looked up and saw the Thunder Legion about to attack him.

"Nice try." Jaccu said. Each member of the Thunder Legion attacked, but their attacks were deflected by the iron and they ended up in cages themselves. Natsu tried to get back up and continued fighting, but Rod kicked Natsu under the chin to lift him in the air. Rod jumped up and pounded Natsu around before he grabbed him in a scissor hold and tossed him to the ground. Rod held out his fingers and a magic circle appeared around them.

"Bullet Magic: Roulette!" Rod unleashed multiple attacks around in a circle and blasted Natsu down without even giving him the chance to get up.

'This is bad!' Natalia thought. 'Rod isn't even giving Natsu the chance to fight back. He won't stop until Natsu is a lifeless corpse.'

"How can they strike everyone down like this?" Wendy said.

"They're much stronger than E.R.6. was." Lucy said.

"That doesn't matter. Strike them down for hurting our family!" Makarov said.

"Too slow! Iron-Make: Mallet!" Jaccu formed an iron mallet and slammed it near them. Kallie used that as a distraction to strike each one of them down herself.

"No! Wendy!" Carla said.

"You witch!" Happy said, but she didn't even left them out.

"Water Slicer!" Juvia tried to stop them, but Kallie jumped over her attack. Kallie kicked her down, but when she noticed Juvia was made out of water, she just kept striking so she couldn't regenerate herself so quickly. Rod stopped his attacking and Natsu tried to get back up, but Rod slammed his foot right down on Natsu's back and it appeared to have knocked him right out. To make sure, Rod lifted Natsu by the head and stabbed Natsu in the gut with his bare hand. He let Natsu go and he dropped right to the ground. Natalia looked around. Everyone was hurt and could possibly die because of her. She was having flashbacks of another time all over again.

"Is this really the strongest guild in all of Fiore? I'm not impressed." Jaccu said. He looked out the door and it appeared Rod finished Natsu. "Rod, are you getting sloppy? We took on the whole guild while you were stuck with that little guy?"

"I saw it in his eyes with his first attack." Rod said. When he blocked Natsu's first attack, he looked into Natsu's eyes and saw what drives Natsu. "He had such passion in him. Fitting for a fire wizard. He had a fire in him that had to be put out."

"Numbers have a constant change in significance in battle." Kallie said. "We were able to pull it off because we were fast and efficient and that made it effective."

"Now for what we came here for." Rod said as he stepped forward to the guild, but he felt something holding him. He looked down and saw Natsu hold on his pants and still held the will to fight.

"Where are you going? We're not done." Natsu said as he glared right at Rod and it bothered him.

"It's pointless. You're already defeated." Rod said, but he held his fingers at him. "But if you want to die, it make no difference to me." Rod was charging up an attack to finish Natsu off. Natalia couldn't stand to watch this anymore. She hurried over to Rod and Natsu and kicked Natsu's hand off of Rod. The rain began to pour down as the moment turned into a sad and dark one.

"Natalia?" Natsu said.

"Just stop it." Natalia said. "There's no reason for this to go on. I'll go with you if you agree to leave every single member of the guild alive." Rod wasn't expecting that. It was a bold proposal.

"So now you decide to turn yourself in? Why the change of heart?" Rod said.

"I see no point in you beating them around. They have nothing to do with why I'm here and if you think you're going to find Eclear here, think again. I never saw anything that is connected to him." Natalia said.

"We were ordered to capture Natalia and bring her back with us." Kallie said. "I don't really see a problem with it. I think we can make that deal."

"Really? I want to beat these guys around some more." Jaccu said.

"Hold it. Natalia, you're not going anywhere with them." Natsu said as he tried to get back up.

"Don't even try, Natsu. These people will kill you if you get in their way." Natalia said.

"We don't care. You're a member of Fairy Tail now. We protect our own." Natsu said.

"Fairy Tail really means nothing to me." Natalia said and that was a surprise to some of them. "Have you forgotten why I joined Fairy Tail in the first place? I joined because you saved my life when I was ready to die. That's a debt that I believed can't go unpaid." She turned around to look Natalia right in the eyes to say this. "A life for a life. My debt is paid. I have no reason to stay here anymore."

"You can't really mean that." Natsu said. "You really just joined Fairy Tail because of some payment? Does it really mean nothing to you?" Natalia turned away as she really couldn't bring herself to say anything.

"Enough of this." Rod said. "We came here to get you. If this means you'll come along with us, we'll agree to this deal. We arrived here by train and our personal one is in the station. Let's go."

"Right." Natalia said as all of them were one the move.

"Wait. Natalia! You can't go with them. At least answer me!" Natsu said. "Natalia, stay here!"

"No." Natalia said. "This is the end. You'll never see me again." Natalia continued on with them and some of them couldn't believe she was really going.

"Notalia, come back!" Natsu shouted as she reached towards her, but now she might forever be out of reach. "Natalia!"


	4. A Tricky Deal

Rain continued to pour down around Magnolia. Gray formed an umbrella made out of ice and it was holding its own in the rain. Gray wasn't aware of what happened at the guild and didn't get Makarov's lecture when he others did.

"You're going to catch a cold, especially if you unconsciously strip like you usually do." Gray turned around and saw Erza with her own umbrella.

"I'm an ice wizard. I don't catch colds." Gray said. "As for you, your armor could rust. What are you doing out here?"

"Looking for you." Erza said. "Master Makarov wasn't pleased with what you said to Natalia. I too believe you went a little out of line."

"Erza, she's part of an evil organization that's been around for over a hundred years, which is why it's considered a one-hundred year quest." Gray said. "They destroyed so much looking for this sealed away Eclear. How can we just allow someone like that to be in our guild?"

"I felt similar, but Master Makarov reminded me of an important lesson." Erza said. "Now that she's one of us, her past no longer matters. We know some people that have changed for the beter because of us. Who or what they are or what they use to be shouldn't really matter. Take Natsu for example. His brother was the most evil wizard there was and he's technically a demon, but we let him stayed rather than taking our frustration out on him. Now he's one of our most decidated and powerful members, even if he does go a little too far in his actions from time to time. Natalia's really no different. Perhaps it's time we forgive and forget what she's done."

"You really think?" Gray questioned, but he spotted something down the street. "Speaking of Natalia." Erza turned around and saw Natalia with her escorts. Neither of them were aware of what just happened, but they both had the feeling that this wasn't good.

…

The Station

Natalia agreed to go with E.R.7. in exchange that they stop harming Fairy Tail and leave them all alive. Natalia claimed that she repaid her debt to Natsu and now she has no reason to stay in the guild and that Fairy Tail meant nothing to her. That's why she has no problem leaving. As they headed in the station, Natalia noticed numerous people inside and they were all appeared to be injured.

"About time. I was getting bored." Natalia noticed another member of the unit. This was one was a guy dressed in all black with him wearing a zipped up jacket with a large collar. He had sandy brown shaggy hair and carried twin swords on his back.

"Kaemin. Of course this was your doing." Natalia said.

"It's been a long time since we last heard from you, Natalia." Kaemin said. "I had to make sure no one got in and out of this place. Keep it secured so we get a clear getaway. How did getting her go?"

"It went a lot easier than expected. She actually turned herself in providing we leave those people in a guild alive." Kallie said.

"Enough talk. Let's get going." Jaccu said. All of them walked down to their personal train and were getting ready to depart. Erza and Gray followed them and saw what happened.

"Oh man! What is all this? Are they all…dead?" Gray questioned as Erza checked some of them.

"No. It appears they're all unconscious." Erza said. They heard E.R.7.'s train starting up and was getting ready to leave. "Get on!" Erza and Gray hurried to the train and jumped right on the last cart just before the train started to exit out of Magnolia station.

"Any idea what's going on or where this thing is heading?" Gray questioned.

"Nope, but that's never really stopped us before, has it?" Erza said and Gray had to agree with her there. Both of them snuck their way inside.

….

The Guild

It was a brutal fight for Fairy Tail. Three people came and was able to overpower and outsmart the entire guild. Gajeel was able to help out Laxus and the Thunder Legion by tearing the cages opened. Luckily, no one sustained any serious injuries. The one who got the worst of it was Natsu after that beating Rod gave him.

"Wendy, is Natsu going to be okay?" Happy asked as Wendy was doing her best to heal him.

"I think so." Wendy said. "He got beaten around pretty badly and that wound in his gut could have become a serious problem."

"I don't get it, Natsu. With your power, how could you get beaten around by that jerk?" Lucy said as she helped him sit up.

"It wasn't my fault. That guy wouldn't give me a chance to fight back." Natsu said. "Cheating jerk. Next time I see him, I'm going to show him what I'm really made out of."

"I'm more concerned about Natalia." Wendy said.

"Same here." Lucy said. "Do you think she meant what she said back there? Do you think she only stayed because of you, Natsu? Did she only stayed because of a debt?"

"What debt was she even talking about? I didn't owe her any money and she certainly didn't pay me back." Natsu said.

"That's not what she and I meant!" Lucy said was getting upset again. "I always believed that anyone who would become part of Fairy Tail would see how amazing it was. That they learn vital lessons they take with them for the rest of their lives. You feel like you're in a family. To hear someone say hey only stayed just because of some favor….hear they say that it means nothing…." Lucy was too upset to finish that sentence. To think someone would think such things of Fairy Tail after they became a member was hurtful to the ones who loved the guild with all their heart. Natsu placed his arm around her and held her as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Maybe we were right about her all along. She looked Natsu right in the eyes when she said she repaid him." Carla said as some of them were starting to doubt Natalia.

'Natalia, you better not have meant what you said. Otherwise, I won't ever forgive you for hurting my friends.' Natsu thought.

….

The Train

Natalia stared out the window of the train as she watched the rain and scenery pass by. The train ride was pretty quiet. Erza and Gray managed to make it to the cart they were in and were careful not to be seen. Jaccu thought he heard something at the back door, but he didn't see anything when he turned to look.

"Something wrong, Jaccu?" Kaemin asked.

"I thought I heard something. I must be imagining things." Jaccu said.

"You always were paranoid." Kaemin said.

"Say what?!" Jaccu said as he took some offense to that. Erza and Gray stayed hidden behind the seats.

"What do you think is going on?" Gray whispered.

"I'm not sure. Let's just stay down and let's see if we can figure out what's going on." Erza whispered. Rod walked over to Natalia and Natalia felt his intimidating glare right at her.

"I must say, Natalia, it's a little suspicious how you just handed yourself over to us." Rod said.

"I told you that it seemed pointless." Natalia said. "There was really no reason for you to continue to attack the Fairy Tail guild." Hearing their guild was attack almost made Erza and Gray jump, but they controlled themselves.

"That's just it." Rod said. Natalia was starting to get nervous. Natalia turned to look at him, but Rod grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up. "Something about how you just handed yourself in seemed strange."

"What's the big deal? We got her and gave some of those guys a beating." Jaccu said.

"Be quiet." Kallie said as she and Kaemin knew there was no stopping Rod.

"You can't fool me, Natalia." Rod said. "You actually enjoyed your time in that guild."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Natalia said as she tried to get free from his grasp. Rod used his spare hand and dug inside her shirt.

"Woo! Rod, who knew you were really that kind of guy." Jaccu said.

"That's sexual harassment, Jaccu." Kallie said.

"Me?! What about him?!" Jaccu said. Rod dug around in there and pulled out a piece of paper. He tossed Natalia against the wall and unfolded the paper. It turned out to be the drawing that Asuka made for her.

"Why else would you have this?" Rod said. Natalia didn't know what to say because it was true. Rod took the drawing and tore it to pieces and Natalia hated seeing that. "Nice try. You thought you could pull off a tricky deal, but you can't deceive me."

"How did you even know?" Natalia asked.

"You claimed the reason the reason you joined that guild was because you owed your life to that fire wizard." Rod said. "I suppose I would understand you wanting to keep him alive, but if you still had yourself in E.R. it really shouldn't have mattered if the rest of that guild was killed. You asked us to spare everyone in it. Perhaps it did start out the way you said it did, but things changed in the month you've been there. I don't know what went on with you there, but you actually started to love being in that guild. You knew we were going to come after you at some point and you saw this as an opportunity to repay your debt, but there was actually more meaning to it than it appeared."

'I can't believe what I'm hearing. Natalia really did enjoy being in Fairy Tail? I'm starting to feel like a big jerk.' Gray thought.

"I've heard about that guild and they hold high regards of friendship and family. You thought by saying those things you said back there, they wouldn't come after you and that their lives would be spared. That's why you gave yourself in, to protect them." Rod said. "You also thought by saying what we wanted to hear, not only would it protect them, but we might go easy on you, but you were wrong. Then again, you are smarter than that. I believe you also didn't tell them what's going to happen to you. You did say that they were never going to see you again, but they don't really know what you meant, did they? You know we never tolerate people who betray us the way that you have. You know what's going to happen to you."

"I know." Natalia said as she accepted her fate. "Once we reach our destination….I'll be executed."

'Executed?!' Erza and Gray thought. Neither of them believed that would that would happen.

'Are they serious? They're going to kill her?' Erza thought.

'I always thought that if they did come to take her back, she would be punished, but they let her rejoin.' Gray thought. 'I didn't think they would actually kill her.'

"Natalia, have you forgotten why you joined E.R. in the first place?" Rod said. Natalia looked back to the window and right at her own reflection as she was reflecting on her past.

"I will never forget." Natalia said.


	5. Wanted and Needed

Ten years ago was when Natalia's nightmare began. Natalia actually lived on an island known as Palm Island when she was a child. She soon woke up on the day that her entire life was turned around.

"Good Morning, Mommy." Natalia said as she came down the stairs. Natalia's mother was named Nicola and she looked a lot like Natalia, but had blonde hair. They lived alone in that house, but there was one problem.

"Morning, Natalia." Nicola said. "I made some breakfast for you. I've got to get to some work. Sorry I can't stay." Nicola didn't wait around for Natalia to say any objection and went out the door.

'That's nothing new.' Natalia thought as she took a seat at the table and ate her breakfast in the empty house. 'Mommy's always working. She works at the school here on the island, studying up on whatever book is in there and helping others learn. It gets pretty lonely around here, but she never really wants to hear how I feel about it. She never sticks around that long.' When Natalia finished with her breakfast, she went out on her own. However, her life out of the house wasn't that much better.

"Look. It's that girl."

"Eew. Keep her away."

"What a freak."

"Why haven't they kicked her off the island yet?" A lot of people, mainly children, say those sort of things about her.

'All the kids on the island are so mean.' Natalia thought. 'They know I have magic, but they stay away from because of it. They don't want me around. At least I have one person I can turn to.' Natalia went to the other side of the island where someone lived alone. "Shrew? Are you here?"

"I'm over by the garden. That you, Natalia?" Shrew called out.

"Yeah." Natalia said as she went over to the garden. She walked over and was soon met with a guy wearing overalls and had shaggy red hair and a beard. "Hi, Shrew."

"You're just in time, Natalia. I just harvested a couple watermelons. You want a slice or two?" Shrew asked.

"Okay." Natalia said. Shrew took a break from his work and cut up a watermelon and gave a slice to her. This was basically Natalia's life on the island. She appeared to have a hard time, but she had at least one person she could to.

"So what's the matter, Natalia? You seemed a little blue about something." Shrew asked.

"It's nothing, but the usual." Natalia said. "Mom is always working and all the kids seem to be afraid of me."

"Afraid of you?" Shrew questioned.

"They are and this is why." Natalia said as she moved her hand against the ground and some flowers grew.

"Oh! They fear you because you have magic." Shrew said. "It's actually natural. Anyone using magic here on this island is really rare. They're only afraid of you because they don't understand it and when people don't understand something, they tend to be afraid of it."

"So they don't understand me and that's why they're afraid of me? That doesn't really make me feel better." Natalia said.

"Just give it time. You just need to show people how beautiful your magic can be." Shrew said.

"Beautiful?" Natalia questioned.

"Of course. Its' hard to be afraid of something that can create beautiful flowers." Shrew said. "It's easy to make it since they actually come from a beautiful flower."

"You mean me?" Natalia said. It did make her feel better to hear Shrew say such kind things about her, but it still didn't make it easy.

"Natalia, if you're really bothered by all this, just talk to your mother and those other kids about how it makes you feel." Shrew said.

"I don't think I can. My voice goes unheard." Natalia said. "Sometimes I feel like I should just disappear, but then I think of you Shrew. How do you do it? You live outside of everyone else in the village and I'm the only one that visits you. How do you live with the loneliness?"

"Who says I'm lonely?" Shrew questioned.

"You're no?" Natalia asked.

"No." Shrew said. "I might not be needed in the village, but that doesn't mean I'm not wanted. You come all the way out here to visit me because you want to. Besides, if you have one person you know that cares for you, whether they're here or out in the world, I think it can be hard to get lonely." Natalia never really thought about that, but she is just a child. Wanted and needed, two words that would actually haunt Natalia. "How about you just go and talk to your mother? If she won't hear you, make your voice heard. Speak proud and loud so she will listen."

"Loud and proud?" Natalia questioned and she thought she should try it. "Okay. Thank you." Natalia finished eating and went to see her mother.

"Sweet kid." Shrew said. He got up and was about to get back to work. Just before he did, he saw some ice on the plants. "How did this happen?" He got his answer when he felt his entire body freeze and his entire body shattered.

"Sorry, but we have a job to do."

…

Nicola

Nicola was in a library and was looking over all the books in there. She was one of those people that was focused on her studies, but it was a bit secretive as to what she was studying.

"Mom." Nicola turned around and saw Natalia there.

"Natalia? What are you doing here?" Nicola said.

"I want to talk to you about something." Natalia said.

"Is there any chance it can wait, honey?" Nicola asked.

"N…No. Please, Mom. I really need to say this." Natalia said.

"Okay. What is it?" Nicola said. Natalia wanted to speak, but she held her tongue. "Natalia, I can't really be distracted. I've got some import work to do. So if you need to say something, just say it." She wanted to, but she was too scared. She didn't have to speak because there was an explosion outside they both heard. "What was that?" Both of them ran outside and saw something horrible. Houses were burning and people were being attacked.

"What's going on?" Natalia questioned.

"Damn." Nicole said. She lifted up Natalia and started running.

"Mom, what's going on?" Natalia said. "What is happening to our home? Who are those people that are attacking others?"

"There's no time to explain." Nicola said as she kept running. "We just need to get to a boat I have out on the water and get the hell out of here." Natalia was really scared for she did not know what was going on. However, she saw trouble.

"Mom, behind you!" Natalia said, but it was too late as Nicole slipped and fell. She noticed that she slipped on ice and someone was following them.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow anyone here to escape." The person who was speaking to them was Kojishi from ten years ago. E.R. was the one responsible for this attack.

"Damn. I didn't think something like this would happen." Nicola said.

"I'm afraid it has. Nothing personal, but this could possibly help our goals. If we have to take lives to do it, we will." Kojishi said.

"How can you people be so callous?" Nicola said.

"Mommy, what's going on? Who are these people?" Natalia said. She didn't understand what was going on and was understanding what Shrew was talking about.

"I admit that we're not proud of what we doing, but I became part of this and there's no turning back for me." Kojishi said. He held out his hand and was preparing some of his magic. "Ice Crippler!" He unleashed a powerful cold gust of wind. Nicole acted without even thinking as she shielded Natalia from the attack and took the full power of it.

"Mom, are you okay?!" Natalia said, but Nicole screamed in pain as a response as the bottom of her feet was turning to ice and slowly rising up her body.

"Natalia, listen to me." Nicole said. "I know I haven't been the best mother lately and I'm sorry for that. I wish there was time to make it all better, but there isn't. Just run towards my boat and get out of here."

"No. I can't." Natalia said.

"Yes you can." Nichole said. "I wish I could go with you, but I can't. I know you don't understand now, but I did what I did in hopes of protecting you in the future. I know it seemed like I ignored you and I can't tell you how sorry I am for all of that."

"I forgive you! Let's just go!" Natalia pleaded. "I need you! I don't want to be lonely!"

"You won't be. The world is a vast place so I know that one day you'll meet real friends." Nicola said.

"Real friends?" Natalia questioned.

"Friends that will stay by your side and never leave you for no one is ever meant to be in this world alone." Nicola said and she smiled when she said that as the ice completely covered her body. Natalia couldn't believe what happened to her. She reached out to her, but that was a mistake as Nicola's body completely shattered right before her. It was this moment that caused Natalia's fear of ice magic for it constantly reminded her of what she just witnessed. Natalia cried at the top of her lungs and ran as fast as she could.

"She sacrificed everything so her daughter could be safe." Kojishi said as he stared at the ice and stared at Natalia as she ran away. Natalia ran as fast as she could as she made it through all the destruction as the island was swallowed by flames. Natalia soon made it to the shoreline and saw the boat, but she saw Kojishi beat her to the boat. Natalia was so afraid that she might actually die here. "Follow the ice and you'll reach land."

"What?" Natalia said. She looked at the boat and saw Kojishi formed a trail out of ice.

"You're lucky I'm more merciful than those in my unit." Kojishi said as he walked past her. "I might be sparing your life, but don't think that means I'm your friend. You'll have to survive on your own, but if that's too much for you, stay and burn with this island."

"Why are you doing this? Who are you people?" Natalia asked.

"That's really not your concern anymore." Kojishi said. Natalia didn't understand anything of what was going on. All of this was happening so fast and she didn't know why. It was too much for a child to handle. All she knew was that she had to do what she was told and left. She got on the boat and followed the ice. As she rowed her boat, she had no choice, but to watch as her island burned and everything she knew burned with it. Her mother, Shrew, and everyone else going with it. If she didn't feel alone before, she surely does now.

…

Natalia

That was the how Natalia's life began and was twisted around. She managed to make it off the island and made it to Ishgar.

"You later learned that E.R. was behind that attack in another one of our attempts to find Eclear." Rod said as they went over her life story. "All of that happened in one day and that would have traumatized anyone, but you were off to a bad start with how you lived on that island before." Erza and Gray heard the whole story and they felt so bad for Natalia. Gray practically had white knuckles as he gripped his pants.

'That all happened to Natalia when she was just a child. I'm such a jerk.' Gray thought and felt horrible for what he said to her. 'I was wrong. She does belong in Fairy Tail.'

'Wait. If E.R. was behind that attack, why would Natalia join forces with them?' Erza wondered.

"After that day, you tried to make it out on your own in the world, but you failed at that as well." Rod said. Natalia thought back to those times as well, but al she can remember was being pushed to the ground.

"_Get out of here!"_

"_Look what you did! Get lost!"_

"_You little brat! Get out of my sight!"_

"Everywhere you went, you only made things worse for a lot of people. No one wanted you around and no one needed you." Rod said. "You were nothing, but a burden to everyone." Natalia couldn't forget. It was like she was running through a tunnel of misery as a child and it would last forever as all those horrible things echoed in her head. "In your whole life, the things you felt, the things you said, what you did didn't matter. No cared enough to hear what you wanted or needed. You soon learned about E.R. and decided to join us because Kojishi sparing you was the only sign that someone actually cared about you after you lost your home. You thought that if the world didn't want you around, you would disappear in shadows. That soon brought us to today. You stuck to that foolish belief that you owed your life to that person in the guild. You stayed because you thought you needed to in the guild and it would only be a matter of time until we hear about this and come after you, but you didn't think you would actually enjoy being there. It's too late now. Now there's nowhere in the world that needs your or wants you. Once we reach our fortress in Sea Lily Town, your fate will be sealed. They can't save you…..even if they're hiding in the train." He said as he turned his eyes to the back of the cart.

'He knows we're here!' Erza thought from surprise. Rod held out his fingers and shot a couple magic bullets that destroyed the back seats and showed Gray and Erza hiding back there.

"Gray?! Erza?!" Natalia said. The truth of Natalia's past has been revealed. Can Erza and Gray save her from E.R. and her nightmare or is Natalia truly lost forever?


	6. Rescue Our Guild Member

After hearing Natalia's story, Erza and Gray want to save her now more than ever. They were hoping for a surprise attack, but Rod was already aware of their presence and got them to come out of hiding.

"What are they doing here?" Natalia questioned, but she just remembered that the two of them left the guild before the attack. "That's right. They weren't at the guild earlier."

"These two snuck on our train by themselves?" Jaccu said. "Are they just that brave or are they just that stupid?"

"You two are on here without permission. Leave." Kaemin said.

"We'll leave and we're taking Natalia with us." Gray said as he got ready to fight. Erza pulled out a pair of swords and was ready herself.

"No. Don't." Natalia said, but her voice went unheard as the rest of E.R. attacked. Kallie ran right towards them. She held out her leg to kick Erza, but Erza crossed her swords and blocked the attack. She pushed Kallie back and tried to slash at her, but Kallie flipped back.

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray shot lances of ice, but Kaemin stopped the attack as he used his swords and caused the ice to break easily. "No way!"

"So you use maker magic like Jaccu." Kaemin acknowledge.

"Not like me!" Jaccu said as he managed to get right next to Gray and gave a pretty strong uppercut under his chin. "I'm better!" Jaccu gave him a strong kick in the gut and had Gray hit the wall. Erza tried slashing at him, but he avoided his attacks. "Ooh! What's your name?"

"Stop flirting and focus on taking them out." Kaemin said. He ran pass Jaccu and tried using his swords against Erza, but she was able to block his attack as well.

"They're strong." Erza said.

"You should see what we did to your fellow guild members." Kallie said as she got right next to Erza with her unable to move. She grabbed Erza by the face and slammed her against the ground. Kaemin used the opening and kicked her back.

"You attacked our friends? You'll pay big time!" Gray said as he slammed his hands on the ground and had ice form on the floor and froze their feet to keep the enemy in place.

"You think a little ice can slow us down?" Rod taunted as he easily broke free one leg from the ice. He stomped down and caused the entire ice to shatter.

"You're kidding me!" Gray said as he can't believe how strong they are.

"Iron-Make: Rammer!" Jaccu formed a hammer-end piece of metal and had it slam very hard against Gray to have him slammed against the wall. When it disappeared, Gray dropped to his knees and held his gut.

"Gray, are you okay?" Erza asked.

"I'll be okay, but these guys are on a whole other level compared to that other unit we fought." Gray said.

'Is it because before we had Platinum Angel to help us last time or is it simply a difference in power? Maybe a mixture.' Erza thought.

"You shouldn't let your guard down even for an instant." Rod said as he was right in front of Erza. Erza turned her head, but was met with his hand as he grabbed a hold of her neck and lifted her up with her feet not even touching the ground. Erza tried using her swords against him, but Rod easily knocked them out of her hand. He tightened his grip and Erza was having trouble breathing.

"Erza!" Gray shouted as he tried to save her as he formed some ice around his arm, but Rod was able to stop the attack and grab Gray the same way. Both of them could feel his magic power and it was unreal.

'This one's magic power is completely different from the others. It's not just stronger, it's more intense. I think it would be safe to say that he's the strongest one out of all of them.' Erza thought.

"You two shouldn't be here. You're not supposed to be on a train without a ticket." Rod said. "I'll let you two live since we made a deal with Natalia, but your stop is coming up."

"Wait. Natalia, listen." Gray said and got her attention. "I'm sorry. I really am. I'm sorry about what I said back at the guild. You do belong in Fairy Tail." That was nice of Gray to admit, but Natalia just turned away.

"I'm afraid it's too late." Rod said. "Natalia has accepted her fate. She's going to die and she knows there's nowhere in the world for her. I know you two heard what we were just talking about. So you know that this all that awaits for her."

"You would use her tragic past and those hurtful feelings to bring her to such a despicable fate?" Erza said. "How depraved are you? What kind of people are you?"

"The kind that doesn't care so long as we have our way." Rod said and said it so casually like he has no shame in it. He radiated some of his magic power. Suddenly an explosion went off with part of the train cart's wall coming off and Erza and Gray being tossed off the train. Both of them rolled against the ground as the train went further and further away. "That should take them away."

"Hopefully they get the message and stay out of this." Jaccu said. "I'll give Fairy Tail this much. They sure do have some hot as hell ladies."

"Get focused. Sea Lily Town is coming up." Kaemin said. The rain was clearing away and a large tower could be seen with another town and that town was where Natalia's fate will be sealed. Meanwhile, Erza and Gray had a rough landing, but they were able to get back up.

"Erza, are you okay?" Gray said.

"I'll live." Erza said.

"Those guys are seriously strong. No way you and I can handle those guys by ourselves." Gray said.

"That's why I'm calling in some help." Erza said as she pulled out a portable communication lacrima.

…..

Fairy Tail

They finished fixing the place up and helping the injured. Makarov took notice of a communication lacrima going off. He pushed his chair over and was able to answer.

"Hello? Who is this?" Makarov said.

"Master, it's Erza." Erza's voice could be heard and everyone gathered to hear her.

"Erza? Where are you? We could have used your help a little while ago." Makarov said.

"I already know what happened at the guild. I'm with Gray right now." Erza said. "We know what happened with Natalia. We tried to save her, but this unit of E.R. was a lot stronger than we believed."

"Yeah. They just humiliated our whole guild and beat everyone." Natsu said with some anger.

"Erza, does this also mean you know of what happened with Natalia?" Lucy said.

"Yes. I know she turned herself." Erza said.

"It was more than just that." Happy said.

"Natalia claimed that being in Fairy Tail really meant nothing to her." Lucy said. "She only stayed around because of some debt she made herself. I can't believe she actually say that."

"No. Listen. Natalia actually enjoyed her time in Fairy Tail." Erza said and hat got everyone's attention.

"It was more complicated than you guys think." Gray said.

"Gray, my love! I'm so happy to hear your voice once more!" Juvia cheered.

"Juvia, not now." Levy politely said.

"Natalia did join Fairy Tail for the reason she said at first, but she actually grew to enjoy it." Gray said.

"Natalia only gave herself up because she wanted to protect everyone." Erza said. "I don't know what she said to all of you, but she only said it in hopes that we don't go after her to try and save her for our own sake."

"If she thinks we're not going to help her, she's got another thing coming." Natsu said.

"Yeah, but there's something you all must know first." Erza said. "We heard about Natalia's past and it's a harsh one. The reason Natalia joined E.R. in the first place was because she wanted to disappear from the world."

"What? Why would she want that?" Laxus said.

"Natalia had a hard life as a child." Gray said. "A lot of people were actually afraid of her and her own mother hardly seemed to care for her from what we heard. Then, E.R. attacked her home village and Natalia was the only one who survived."

"What?! Her home was destroyed?" Wendy said as she felt sorry for Natalia.

"How awful." Carla said.

"Natalia tried to survive on her own, but that wasn't going so well." Erza said. "Natalia believes there's no place in the world for her. She believes that everything she thinks and feels doesn't really matter. She only stayed in Fairy Tail because she thought she needed too, but I think she actually she wanted to stay."

"So we were wrong about her all along." Lucy said as she felt better about how Natalia really felt, but also felt bad so of how she thought of Natalia.

"You can apologize to her when you see her." Makarov said. "We need to convince Natalia to leave E.R. for good and return to the guild. Fairy Tail is the home she never had."

"Guys, we've got a serious problem." Gray said. "They were never planning on taking her back. They're planning to kill her." That piece of information was the biggest shock to all of them.

"They're going to kill her?!" Happy said.

"How could they do that? They're suppose to be friends, aren't they?" Natsu said.

"Apparently, it's looked down upon of any sign of betrayal." Erza said. "Since Natalia left E.R. and joined Fairy Tail, even for a short while, they saw it as betrayal and they won't tolerate it."

"Still, she's their friend, isn't she?" Natsu said.

"Natsu, I don't think this affiliation is like guilds." Gray said. "I don't think they care for their friends or even see each other like that. Besides, the fact that Natalia is from a separate unit might play a part in it."

"This is horrible." Lucy said.

"Do you know where they're taking her?" Makarov asked.

"They're traveling by train." Erza said. "They're taking her to a town called Sea Lily Town. Is anyone familiar with that place?"

"I think I've heard of that place." Levy said. "Sea Lily is town by the ocean like Hargeon, but it's border by the water is actually a waterfall so no boats can actually dock in it. Other than that, not much is really known about the place. It's all shrouded in mystery for years."

"I have a hunch E.R. might be responsible for that." Gajeel said. "There's a chance they're using that town as a base."

"Even if they are, that isn't going to stop us." Natsu said. "We were given the job of eliminating E.R. and that's what we're going to do. They attacked our guild and they've taken one of us. We've got to make these bastards pay big time for what they did."

"Agreed." Makarov said. "This time, the whole guild is going. Not only is this enemy strong, but we need to show Natalia how much she is cared for so she can continue living."

"You can count me in." Gajeel said as he was popping his knuckles. "If this E.R. is really all bad, I want to see what they're really all about."

"If my darling is going, so am I." Juvia said.

"Same here. After that little humiliation, I've got to get a little redemption." Laxus said. Everyone in the guild agreed and they all feel the same about Natalia now. She's one of them now and they're going to let her know that she is welcomed in the guild.

"Erza and Gray, go on ahead and get to this Sea Lily Town. Scope out the area so we know what to expect." Makarov said.

"Understood." Erza said.

"Just you wait, E.R." Natsu said as he stared off at the distance. "We're going to rescue out friend."


	7. White Tower of Death

E.R.7.'s train pulled up to Sea Lily Town. The town was just like Levy said. It was by the sea with a giant waterfall surrounding it where you can't even see the bottom. There was also a great white fortress in the back with a large tower out in the water and behind that fortress was a large platform. Natalia has accepted her fate now that she's here and there's no escape for her.

"Wait just a minute." Kaemin said as he came up behind her. He grabbed her arms and placed them behind her and placed cuffs on her wrists.

"Am I correct to assume you just put sealing stone cuffs on me?" Natalia said.

"That's right. In case you had any bright ideas of using your magic against us." Kaemin said.

"You worry too much. She turned herself in. Why would she bother escaping?" Jaccu questioned.

"One can never be too cautious." Kaemin said.

"Jaccu's right. I've accepted my fate. I have no reason to fight back." Natalia said.

"Enough debating. Get moving." Rod said as he shoved Natalia out the train and all of them got moving. As they all walked through the town, Natalia had a look around. She saw all the people that were nearby were hiding away.

"Curious as to why they're all hiding?" Kallie said. "The answer is simple. It's because they know who we are."

"I don't understand." Natalia said.

"It happened when we first came here." Rod said. "We never found Eclear around here, but we saw this town could be of great use to us. So we decided to make our base here."

"The people who live here fear us and we use that fear to control them." Kallie said. "They obey us out of fear and that is of benefit to us. It doesn't matter to us how they feel as long as they obey us." Natalia didn't like it, but there was nothing she could do about it. They soon reached a white archway at the edge of town.

"Lower the bridge!" Kaemin called out. A bridge was lowered from the archway and it connect the land to the white fortress. All of them walked across the bridge and by the time they made it in the fortress, the bridge was drawn back. Natalia looked up and saw the tower split into many floors.

"Let's go, Natalia. There's someone people up there that wants to say hello." Jaccu said as they moved her to some stairs and they all made their way up the tower. They kept going until they reached an office near the top.

"The rest of them are in there, aren't they?" Natalia asked.

"That's right." Kallie said. The doors opened up and inside was the rest of this unit, the remaining three members.

"Aw! You're finally back." Natalia looked around and saw the other members of E.R.7.

"Yoho! You made it back and with success that I see." One of them was a male, but had long and flowing pink hair with him wearing a classic suit. This one is named Yonku.

"Cha-cha-cha. It's not really surprising when you think about it. As if anyone could really stand up to some of these guys." The other was male too. He wore a black blazer and pants with a black and white striped shirt. He had a slender body with messy lead-colored hair. His name is Foota.

"Excellent work. You managed to bring back the traitor." This one said behind a desk. He wore a black vest with a lavender dress shirt underneath and a black cape over his shoulders. He wore black pants with boots underneath. He also wore a black floppy hat with a lavender feather on it and had black hair underneath. His name is Sonder and this one is the one in charge. "Natalia, it's been a while hasn't it. Why don't you come closer?" Natalia was a little hesitant to go near him.

"He told you to go closer. So go." Rod said as he shoved her towards him. Natalia did what she was told and walked over to Sonder's desk. Sonder stood up and walked over to the desk so he was right in front of Natalia. He smirked at her and Natalia was nervous on what he would do. Sonder smacked Natalia across the face and knocked her off the feet.

"I hope it was worth it. Was it? Joining a pathetic guild and being branded as a traitor?" Sonder taunted.

"You really haven't changed at all." Natalia said.

"Be quiet." Sonder said as he kicked her right in the gut. "Don't be so judgmental. You've got nothing over me. I can't believe you actually left E.R.6. and became part of a guild. A pathetic one at that if they couldn't handle four people. I don't understand how your unit got beaten."

"Easy there, Sonder." Kallie said. "We didn't really get a good read on Fairy Tail's strength. Natalia surrender herself to us before we could really do any permanent damage and I doubt they really showed us all they could do."

"Really? They looked pathetic to me." Jaccu said.

"No matter." Sonder said. "We were tasked with retrieving Natalia and that's just what we did. I hope you're ready, Natalia, because your time of death draws ever so closer." Natalia knew there was no hope for her, but what she doesn't know is that hope is on the way.

…

Fairy Tail

When the guild learned the truth about Natalia, they all decided to go and save her. All of them boarded a train to Sea Lily Town and are on their way as we speak.

"I'm glad that we're all on the same page to save Natalia, but isn't sending everyone in the guild overkill?" Juvia asked.

"Not really." Lucy said. "Makarov says that if we really want Natalia to come back, to see that Fairy Tail is a place for her to be welcomed even when it seems like she's given up, he wants everyone to be there to show how much she's loved now."

"That's right." Makarov said as he was on a chair while his wheelchair stayed in place. "The more we show we care for Natalia, the more likely she'll come back. With the whole guild coming, it's guaranteed."

"Master, are you sure about coming?" Mira asked.

"I might not be a wizard saint anymore and the use in my legs might be no more, but I refuse to do nothing when one of my children is close to death." Makarov said.

"No one in Fairy Tail would just stand around while one of our own is in such danger." Levy said.

"I guess that would explain why you're coming even though you're carrying child." Panther Lily said.

"Gajeel didn't really agree to that, did he?" Happy asked.

"I say ask him, but then again…." Carla said as she saw all three of the dragon slayers were sick to their stomach as usual.

"Where's Laxus? Isn't he a dragon slayer as well?" Panther Lily asked.

"He's too embarrassed to be seen with motion sickness." Levy said with an amused smile. "So he hid himself in the farthest part of the train so no one sees him like that."

"Figures." Happy said.

"Let's stay focus. It won't be long." Makarov said as they all draw closer and closer.

…

Erza and Gray

Erza and Gray tried to continue to the town on foot. They were able to soon arrive at the town and could see the fortress in their sights.

"That must be the place." Gray said.

"Natalia's down there somewhere. We should try and see if we can get any information on E.R." Erza said. "The citizens should be able to tell us all that we need to know." Gray was in agreement, but he noticed something moving through the trees.

"I don't think we have to wait to ask." Gray said. Erza had a look around and saw a few citizens surrounding them and it seems like they want to fight. "What's this all about?"

"Take a good look at them." Erza said as she noticed their postures. "It looks like they're only defending themselves out of fear. We can't hurt them."

"Don't tell me. I'm not Natsu." Gray said as they readied themselves for what they need to do.

…

Natalia

"I see. So that's what happened." Sonder said as the members of E.R.7. just finished explaining what happened to the guild. "If you ask me, you should have finished them all off regardless."

"We couldn't. We made a deal with Natalia like we said." Rod said.

"Cha-cha-cha. That certainly is strange." Foota said. "Rod, you never make deals like that. Why would you agree to something like that?" All of them turned their attention to Rod, but he actually had a sneaky smirk.

"It's because I know what's going to happen next." Rod said.

"Really? Tell us more." Sonder said.

"Kallie, Jaccu, Kaemin, why do you think I didn't act sooner when I knew two members of Fairy Tail were on the train?" Rod questioned and Natalia wasn't liking this. "I knew fully well that they were there from the start, but I wanted them to hear Natalia's life story."

"I thought you were just taunting her and trying to break her spirit." Jaccu said.

"That too." Rod said. "I've heard a lot about Fairy Tail. It's a guild that puts friendship over everything. I knew some of the members would want to come after her and try to save her. Once I learned those two were on board, I gave them even more reasons to come after us. I've sent a message ahead alerting the town of their arrival."

"I see." Kallie said as she adjusted her glasses. "You want Fairy Tail to come after us so we can eliminate them. You always did think ahead, Rod."

"And we have the entire town to fight for us and under our control." Kaemin said. "Since they're a legal guild, they wouldn't dare strike down on innocent civilians."

"Hold on!" Natalia said. "That wasn't part of the deal. You said you let the members of Fairy Tail live if I turned myself in. I kept my end of the bargain, but you're going back on yours? You can't do that."

"You be quiet!" Sonder said as he smacked her again. "You don't have a lot of room to talk. This wouldn't be happening if you hadn't joined the guild in the first place. You brought this upon them just like you bring misery upon others."

"Besides, we agreed to keep everyone in the guild alive, but now they're no longer in the guild." Rod said. "A technicality, but we were never ones for keeping our words. Remember that we will do whatever it takes to get our way. That's why we call this fortress the White Tower of Death."

"That's right. So keep your mouth shut." Sonder said as he started stomping on her and all she could do was take it.

"He's got a lot of issues. Do you think he's got a lot off pent up feelings with him being the weakest?" Jaccu said. "Why do we take orders from him?"

"He bribed his way in. He came from a wealthy family." Kaemin said. "That would also explain his arrogance."

"I heard that!" Sonder said. "It works. You all take orders from me. I'm the brain and you all are the muscles. That's how it always works."

"Sure." All of them said, but they all did really mean it.

"Hey! Give me a break! Say it like you mean it." Sonder said.

…

The Train Station

"Solid ground! Yes!" Natsu said as he and the rest of the guild arrived in Sea Lily Town and the dragon slayers were feeling a lot better.

"So Natalia is here somewhere? I sure hope we can find her." Wendy said. Everyone was ready for this, but Lucy noticed something was strange.

"That's strange. Why is there no one here?" Lucy said as she looked around. "This station is practically deserted."

"That's because we took care of it." They noticed Gray and Erza and Juvia was getting excited.

"My darling Gray! I've missed you!" Juvia said as she was running to his arms. Gray accepted it, but kept it short.

"Not now, okay." Gray said. "We've got a serious problem. The entire town is against us."

"What do you mean?" Mira asked.

"The entire town is under E.R.7.'s command." Erza said. "They all knew we would be coming and are ready to fight off against us."

"Unbelievable!" Lucy said.

"What about Natalia? Where is she?" Natsu said.

"We did managed to get some information." Gray said. "They're holding Natalia in the white fortress that's on the water. That's where those creeps have been using as their base, but there's something else."

"I need all I need to know!" Natsu said as he wasn't waiting around. He was running as fast as he could to the fortress.

"Natsu, wait. There is something you need to know!" Gray called out.

"What is it?" Wendy asked.

"We learned that this town is right on the edge of an area of the ocean called the Forgotten Sea." Erza said.

"The Forgotten Sea?" Happy questioned.

"I think I've read about that." Levy said. "Apparently, the Forgotten Sea is an area in the ocean that holds thick fog banks, underwater volcanoes, and many other obstacles. It's next to impossible to track anything that goes there."

"Exactly. Not even Natsu's strong sense of smell would be of any help out there." Erza said.

"So what you're saying is that we need to rescue Natalia before they decide to take her out to sea." Gajeel summarized.

"Yeah." Gray said. "If they decide to take Natalia out to sea, we'll lose her forever and will never be able to find her." Now they have to rescue a friend, fight off against a whole town, and do it all before it's too late.


	8. A Guild's Love

Natsu wasted no time. When he arrived in Sea Lily Town with the whole guild, he headed straight for where Natalia was suppose to be held at. He saw the tower and nothing was going to stop him from reaching it.

"So that's where Natalia is. No way she's going to die on my watch." Natsu said. Natsu was heading straight for the arch, but some people from the town was getting in his way.

"You're not getting through."

"We were told to keep you back."

"Turn away now. No way you're going to strike innocent people."

"I don't think so!" Natsu said as he had flames surround him. "I don't care who you are? Nothing is going to stop me from saving my friend!" Natsu didn't care if they were innocent people. Anyone who would dare stand in his way is just going to be met with pain.

…

E.R.7.

"So let me see if I have this right, Rod." Sonder said. "You decided to let everyone in that guild live and decided to let them come after us so we could kill them here."

"Yes. That's about right." Rod said.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to cut out the middle man and just kill them where they were regardless of what Natalia or anyone offered?" Sonder said.

"Where's the fun in that?" Rod said.

"Fun?! This wasn't suppose to be about fun!" Sonder said as he was irritated with Rod's actions. "You had a job and you were suppose to take down anyone who would dare stand in your way. That's what we do?" Sonder walked over to his desk and pulled out a sword he had hidden away under it. "As usual, I have to fix your mistakes."

"As usual?" Kaemin said as he didn't believe that.

"He's always been such big talker. It tends to get annoying." Kallie said.

"Cha-cha-cha. Sonder always likes to bite off more than he can chew, but that's usually because he knows no one can do anything about it." Foota said. Sonder walked over to Natalia with her sitting on the floor and unsheathed his sword.

"We should make it easy on ourselves and just get this hassle over with before it gets worse." Sonder said. "Let's just kill her right now!" He raised his sword and swung it down to kill Natalia and she thought this was it for her for a second. However, Rod came in and grabbed Sonder's arm, stopping him from doing any damage.

"Let's not be too hasty, Sonder." Rod said.

"Hasty?! How is it hasty to avoid any unnecessary trouble?" Sonder said.

"We set the game up so it would lead us to this moment." Rod said. "If the game is rigged so that we're guaranteed to win, it won't be any fun."

"Yes it would because we win!" Sonder said.

"It wouldn't matter anyway." Natalia said.

"Who gave you permission to speak?" Sonder said as he held his sword under Natalia's chin.

"Killing me right here and now is not going to make any difference." Natalia said. "Some members of Fairy Tail accepted a mission to bring all of E.R. down. It doesn't matter if you captured me or not. They were going to come after you eventually. Even if they haven't, I've been in the guild long enough to know this. If you strike one of them down, they take revenge. They don't give a damn as to who you are."

"Is that so? That's assuming they care about you and even make it this far." Sonder said. "They are going to have to make it through the entire town first and if they are such a legal guild, they won't make it this far." Sonder said that with full confidence, but he just jinxed himself. A fireball was thrown at the office and it blew up the wall with Sonder getting blown off his feet with the explosion. "What the hell?! What was that?"

"Yoho. Perhaps the great heaven above us is sending us a message by having a grand fireball fall upon us." Yonku said.

"It didn't fall! It was somehow thrown from below!" Jaccu said. "Wait. That still doesn't explain where it came from." Just outside the fortress was Natsu as he stood at the top of the archway.

"Yeah. I picked up some of Natalia's scent. She's inside there." Natsu said. He took a deep breath and inhaled as much as he could. "Natalia!" He shouted as loud as he could. Hearing his voice was a shock to some. Natalia heard him and couldn't believe he actually made it.

"Natsu!" Natalia said.

"I'm here to save you!" Natsu screamed. Sonder stepped outside on a balcony and spotted him.

"What?! What is this? Who the hell is that?!" Sonder said. All of them stepped out and spotted Natsu.

"Hey! It's that pyro from that guildhall!" Jaccu said.

"Cha-cha-cha. He made it all the way here by himself? It's a little impressive how he got here so quickly." Foota said. "He didn't waste a minute." Rod looked down at Natsu and tried to hide his joy that he actually showed up. Natalia stepped out herself and couldn't believe her eyes. Natsu was actually here.

"Wait. What about those idiot townsfolk?" Sonder questioned. "Did they even tried to slow him down?" He looked around until he spotted something by the archway. Every one of the townsfolk that tried to slow him down was burned and it looked like Natsu wasn't even trying. "You mean he actually attacked them?!"

"Not really surprising. I heard Natsu was always rash and reckless. He never thinks before he acts." Natalia said.

"There you are, Natalia. Who do you think you are running off like that?" Natsu said. "You don't need to worry. We're taking you back to the guild."

"Is he serious?" Kallie said.

"Did he come here all by himself, thinking he can take all of us on alone, and actually win?" Kaemin questioned.

"Not quite. Take a good look further in the city." Rod said. All of them looked in the city and saw a few explosions going off. All of it was caused by the other members of Fairy Tail as they were fighting off other members of the town.

"Try not to hurt the town's citizens." Erza said. "They might be taking orders by E.R.7., but it's only because of fear. E.R.7. has intimidated all of them for them to do as E.R. commands."

"Can't make any promises. You know how wild this guild can get." Laxus said as some of them rampaged through the town.

"I can't believe it! They're actually demolishing a town?! I didn't think guilds would do something like that. Are they monsters?!" Sonder said. Natalia couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Is the whole guild here?" Natalia said as she couldn't really understand why the whole guild is here and why they're doing this.

"I see Natsu! He's on top of that arch at the end of town." Happy said.

"He must have already found Natalia." Lucy said.

"So let's give him a hand." Gray said as he was preparing his magic. He formed a set of stairs that led up to the archway.

"Wait for us." Wendy said.

"Forward to rescuing our comrade." Erza said. Natsu's team ran up the stairs and made on the archway.

"Wait for me. I'm getting in on this." Gajeel said. He was pumped for a fight, but he got serious as he turned to Panther Lily. "Lily, I need you to stay by Levy at all times until this is over. Make sure nothing happens to her."

"Understood." Panther Lily agreed.

"Please, be careful." Levy said as she knew Gajeel too well.

"Don't worry. This will all be fine. I'll see you after I knock them off that tower." Gajeel said as he made his way up the stairs Gray made and joined the others on the arch. "I have a feeling this is the only place I'm going to get a real fight around here." There was one more who was joining the group on the archway. Laxus turned himself into lightning and flashed himself up on the arch. He nearly hit Gajeel and it gave him a bit of a scare. "Hey! Watch where you're going?! You nearly hit me!"

"Sorry about that, but I came up here for the same reason as you." Laxus said. "That tower might be the only place I'm going to get any action around here."

"What are these people? They don't seem the least bit hesitant in what they're doing." Sonder said.

"It's just like Rod said." Kaemin said.

"Though, I must admit that I wasn't expecting the entire guild to come all the way out here." Kallie said. All of them looked up the tower and spotted Natalia with all of E.R.7.

"There she is!" Wendy said.

"And there's the punks that had the nerve to even attack our guild." Laxus said.

"Just hang in there, Natalia. We're getting you out of there. We've also got some serious bone to pick with these guys." Natsu said.

"Why are you even here?!" Natalia shouted. Her asking that was a bit of a surprise to them. "Don't you get what's going on? I turned myself in to keep them from killing all of you. In fact, the only reason they agreed to that was because they wanted you to come here so they can finish what they started."

"Say what?" Natsu said.

"What is she talking about?" Gray said.

"It's all part of some game of they're playing." Natalia said. "Did you come here all because of that job you agreed to take by Princess Rose back in Seven? Forget about that dumb job."

"What the hell are you even talking about?!" Natsu said. "You think that's why we came here? We might have been told to eliminate all of E.R., but there's a much bigger reason as to why we're here. We're here because of you. You're a member of Fairy Tail!"

"What do you mean? I told you that Fairy Tail meant nothing to me. I only stayed because I owed my life to you, Natsu." Natalia said. "That debt has been repaid."

"Who cares?!" Natsu shouted. "Natalia, we know the truth. Even if it wasn't, who cares what you owe me? I should have realized it sooner. You're a member of Fairy Tail and it doesn't matter who you were before or where you came from. You're a member of our guild now. In fact, everyone from Fairy Tail is here. That shows how much we care about you."

"You what?" Natalia said as she looked out to the area around them. Everyone in the guild was here because they care about her? Natalia's never seen something like that before. The amount of everyone here shows a guild's love, how much a guild cares for just one member.

"You can do or say whatever you want, Natalia. It's not going to change why we're here." Natsu said. "Whatever it is that you do or say, say it with pride as a fellow member of Fairy Tail." Natalia really didn't know what to think.

"He's right, Natalia!" Lucy called out.

"Come back to us, Natalia!" Wendy called out. Natalia looked around and couldn't believe this many people would go to such lengths for her alone even after everything she's done.

"Come on." Erza said as she walked forward with the others following. All of them walked over with courage, bravery, and dedication that comes with being in Fairy Tail. All of them stood side by side with Natsu. E.R.7. was of course to face them, but Fairy Tail is just as ready if not more.

"Why do I have such a strange feeling about this?" Happy said as he watched from the air.

"The tenacity exerted from all of them is palpable!" Carla said with her right next to him. Natalia looked across the ledge and had her focus on those seven. She could see it too and it was so much for her to handle. Laxus, Gajeel, Gray, Wendy, Erza, Lucy, and Natsu will fight and will save her all for simply one reason.

"You're our friend, Natalia. We're not leaving without you." Natsu said.


	9. Desire to Live

Fairy Tail is taking a stance against E.R.7. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Gajeel, and Laxus have all decided to take on the unit while everyone else deals with the town, which is being forced to attack them by E.R.7., but with them holding back. Since they have to do that to avoid hurting innocent people, it will go on for a while.

"It would seem we underestimated this guild." Kallie said. "They're going to great lengths to save someone they consider one of their own."

"I think you're overestimating them." Jaccu said.

"Yoho. The beauty of friendship seems to know no bounds." Yonku said.

"Cha-cha-cha. One thing for sure is that they all seem pretty crazy." Foota said. Natalia couldn't believe it herself. All of Fairy Tail is doing this just for her?

"Just hand Natalia over." Natsu said. "Do that and the beating we'll give you guys is going to be a lot less painful."

"Is that suppose to make us feel better?" Sonder said. "What a bunch of nitwits these people are? Do they not understand what's going on? The girl surrendered herself to us with the pointless hope of all of them surviving."

"Are these people just all brawn and no brain?" Kaemin said.

"So it would seem." Rod said.

"You think we're going to hand her over?!" Sonder said. "Think again, you brainless pathetic excuse for wizards. Natalia belongs to E.R. and she needs to face her punishment for leaving us."

"Punishment?! You're thinking of killing her!" Natsu shouted. "What is it with you people? She was once one of you. How could you just go and decide to kill her like that? Isn't she suppose to be your friend too?"

"Friend? Friend you say?" Sonder questioned and started to laugh like a maniac. "You think this pathetic piece of trash is our friend? She didn't even belong in the same unit as us. This affiliation isn't about friendship. It's about complete and utter dominance over others." Hearing that jerk say such things was only making Natsu that much angrier.

"Anyone else just want to shut that guy up already?" Gray said.

"Besides, she originally belonged to us. We can do whatever the hell we want with her." Sonder said.

"Stop talking like she's your property." Lucy said. "She's a living being like you and everyone else here. She's not some item that you think is disposable."

"Oh boy. You really don't know how things work around here, do you?" Sonder said. "It's not really any of your business, but in each of the four units of E.R., there is one person who acts like the commander. I happen to hold that position in this unit. With that position, we get to treat and use other members however we see fit."

"The bastard." Laxus said.

"This guy is just one of those people who think they're better than everyone else in the world." Gajeel said. "I don't know why, but it doesn't really surprise me."

"You said you know the truth of Natalia. Does that mean you know about her past as well?" Sonder said.

"Yeah, we know it. Erza and I were there when you creeps were trying to crush her spirit with her backstory." Gray said. "We know how you bastards destroyed her home and took everything away from her."

"To be fair, she didn't really have that much to begin with." Sonder said. "I was referring to the reason she joined this organization in the first place. She learned that we were behind that attack and she still joined us. You must know she did it so that she could disappear from the world. Natalia's nothing, but a burden to everyone and in E.R. that's actually a good thing. She could have caused so much trouble for so many people. Now, she through all of that away." The more they talked about this, the more torn apart this was making Natalia.

"That's not true." Wendy said.

"Natalia was never a burden to us." Lucy said. "Maybe we weren't too thrilled of having her around, but we saw how wrong we were. We want Natalia to come back to the guild that she belongs in."

"I've had just about enough of all this standing around." Natsu said as he was charging a fireball between his hands and was getting ready. "If we're going to fight, let's fight. The bottom line is that we're taking Natalia back with us."

"If it will make you feel better and leave sooner, you can have the corpse to give her a proper burial after we execute her." Sonder said, but that just made Natsu even angrier. His blood was boiling.

"That does it!" Natsu said as he was about to throw it.

"Just stop it!" Natalia shouted. Natsu heard her and he called off his attack. "Just stop before it's too late to turn back. I don't want to be rescued." Hearing her say that confused him and everyone else. Sonder smirked from hearing Natalia getting them to settle down.

"You heard her. Now go home!" Sonder said, but they ignored him.

"Natalia, I don't understand." Natsu said. "What do you mean you don't want to be saved? You know you're going to be killed. Don't you want us to save you?"

"There's no reason for you all to go through all this for me." Natalia said. "Sonder's right. This was unavoidable for me. I've accepted my fate. I only stayed in the guild because I needed to."

"Natalia, we know you enjoyed being in the guild." Erza said.

"Yeah. So quit acting already. You don't need to pretend you're against us just to protect us." Natsu said. "This was by our choice. You admitted that you're one of us and that's enough of a reason for us to be here and save you."

"I'm not acting." Natalia said. "Maybe I did enjoy being in Fairy Tail, but it changes nothing. This was my fate from the moment I joined Fairy Tail. I knew what I was getting into, but I needed to do it. I've accepted what was going to happen and now there's nothing left for me."

"She still doesn't get it." Gray said. "She doesn't get what it means when you become a member of Fairy Tail. She doesn't see we're doing this because we want to."

"Of course. Natalia has been against the world for a very long time." Erza said. "She probably doesn't know how to open up and trust anyone since her home has been destroyed."

"Natalia, we know all about your past, but that isn't stopping us. We're showing you that we do care about you." Natsu said.

"You don't understand!" Natalia shouted. "You have no idea what I've been through. You didn't see my home burn to the ground. You never saw the children be afraid of me. You didn't see the countless times I only made things worse with everyone telling me to disappear. You can say you know about my past all you want, but you can't understand how I felt. My entire life, my very existence, was like a crime. Becoming part of E.R., despite how they were the ones that did this to me, was the only way for me to escape. The fact that my life was spared the day my village was destroyed was the only sign that actually someone actually cared about me. Even so, it just seemed like something the world wanted. My voice always went unheard. Nothing I ever did or said ever really matter. Nothing about what I wanted mattered at all and you can't change that without knowing the feeling."

"You might be right!" All of them look further down and saw Makarov wheeling his way near the cliff. "We can't sympathize with how you're feeling, but I don't want to hear that kind of stuff like how what you wanted never mattered. Natalia, you can make excuses all you want, but the decisions you've made was of your choice, of what you wanted. You joined Fairy Tail because you wanted to. You joined E.R. because you wanted to. Where you are right now and through your whole life was because of the thing that you wanted."

"Master Makarov…." Natalia said.

"There's something else that's bothering you. A parent knows when their children aren't happy." Makarov said. "You love Fairy Tail and you can tell how much we all care about you. Why else do you think the whole guild is here? Just tell us what's really bothering you."

"Good grief. Why is everyone talking so much?" Sonder questioned. Natalia knew these would be her last moments and that's the only reason she is saying what she's saying.

"I'm afraid okay!" Natalia said. "Someday you'll all see me as a burden. That's what I'm most afraid of. Look at what I've already done. I brought E.R.7.'s wrath upon all of you all because I joined Fairy Tail. It be much easier, just like everywhere else, for all of you if I just disappeared, but I can't go back to E.R. this time. There's nowhere in the world that I'm wanted and needed now. This was all bound to happen to me. I'm going to die and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it!" All of them continued to hear all the trouble Natalia has been through and their hearts continued to bleed for her.

"I had no idea she was going through so much." Lucy said.

"Don't worry about it, Lucy. We're going to make sure to free her from all that suffering." Erza said. While it's sad to some, it's only giving Fairy Tail reasons to fight even harder to save her.

"Enough of all this!" Sonder said. "No matter what you try, Natalia is forever bounded to E.R. She's trapped here and there is no escape for her even if she continues to live. Do you want to know why that is? Just look up. Take a look at the flag above." He pointed to the flag that flowed at the top of the tower with E.R. right on it. "That flag is one of E.R.'s symbols. You see, when a new member joins this organization, they make a pledge on that flag. We pledge our very lives on that flag. It's as if our very souls are stitched into that flag. Natalia broke that pledge when she swore her life on it just like anyone else. That is why she is being sentence to death. Leaving E.R., even for a moment, or anything like that is a sign of betrayal and that is always looked down upon. So no matter what you try, Natalia is forever trapped here. Her life is in our hands and she can't escape from it." Natsu stared at the flag and was beginning to understand.

"Natalia's soul is stitched into that flag, huh?" Natsu said as he thought he might have a way to free her. He turned to Lucy. "Lucy, I need you to do something." He was telling her something, but E.R.7. couldn't hear him.

"What are they doing now?" Sonder said.

"Got it." Lucy said and used Star Dress and went into Sagittarius Form. Lucy aimed her bow and arrow and was about to take a shot.

"Have they not been listening to a thing I said?" Sonder said, but Kaemin was seeing something different.

"Wait! That angle and trajectory!" Kaemin said. Lucy fired an arrow and it sored straight through the air, but it didn't hit anyone. It pierced right through the flag itself. It was a shock to everyone.

"No way!" Natalia said as she couldn't believe they just did that.

"Oh man! Now they've done it!" Jaccu said.

"Those fools. Shooting at a flag like that is the same as declaring war." Kaemin said.

"You're all going to die! You morons can't challenge all of E.R. and expect to live afterwards!" Sonder said.

"Yeah? Bring it on!" Natsu shouted at the top of his lungs with every member siding with him.

"They're insane!" Sonder said as he couldn't believe how far they're going to free Natalia. Natalia couldn't hold her tears back any more.

"Natalia!" Natsu shouted. "I still want to hear something from you. Tell us! Tell us what YOU WANT!"

'What I want?' Natalia thought. 'That never mattered before.' She remembered all the hard times she's been through. 'The world pushed me away. My voice was forever lost. No one ever cared.' Natalia believed it was all done by fate and that there was no hope for her being lost in shadows. That was until she just remembered her mother's words.

"_The world is a vast so I know that one day you'll meet real friends." _She began to see she has with the seven just across from her that are helping her and everyone else who are fighting for her sake. They were casting her out of the shadows and back into light and yet they still wish to hear what it is that she desires after everything.

'But now, for once, what I say does matter, what I want does matter. And I….I…..' Natalia thought, but couldn't hold it back anymore. "I WANT TO LIVE! Take me with you! Take me away from here! Take me back to the guild!" She declared. That was more like it. Natalia finally said what she truly desired and her friends are going to make sure it happens.

"Don't worry. We'll take you back." Natsu said. The real fight begins.


	10. Key Finding

The time for Fairy Tail's battle against E.R.7. and liberate Natalia from them has come. Natalia finally got the chance to speak her mind and claims that she wants to live and go back to the guild. Natsu and the others are going to make sure that happens.

"These people are insane!" Sonder said. "They shoot our flag and declare war against us. It seems like they'll stop at nothing to get in our way."

"That's exactly what they're like." Rod said.

"You have no idea what they're truly capable of." Natalia said.

"I think I've heard enough out of you." Sonder said as he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back. Natsu is done with all this standing around.

"Let her go already!" Natsu shouted as he jumped into the air and used his flames as a boost.

"I've got you!" Happy said as he flew down and grabbed a hold of him and tried to carry him to the top of the tower. "Time for Plan T. Am I right?"

"Yeah. Take them by storm." Natsu said, but they felt something was wrong. The weight around them increased and they started to plummet down.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted.

"Happy! What are you doing? Fly up!" Natsu said.

"I'm trying, but something is pushing me down." Happy said. Happy was able to fight it enough to pull Natsu over land and flew right into the fortress. Makarov used his magic and grew his arm as he pulled open the bridge.

"All of you get in there and give Natsu a hand. The rest of us will wait out here until you return with our fellow Fairy Tail wizard." Makarov said.

"You heard the master. Let's move!" Erza said and all of them agreed. They jumped off the arch and landed on the bridge with all of the running inside.

"Wendy, wait for me!" Carla called out as she flew in to join them. Makarov watched them all head inside and had absolute faith in each one of them.

"Master, should we go in and help them?" Mirajane asked.

"There's no reason for all of us to go in." Makarov said. "Natalia knows how we all feel about her now. Besides, if those seven can't do it, I'm not sure if anyone can. All of them have embodied the heart and spirit of our beloved guild more than anyone."

"Good point. That is practically our strongest team formation in the entire guild. I doubt we really have that much to worry about with them." Mirajane said. It was decided. If those seven can't save Natalia, perhaps no one can.

….

E.R.7.

"This is bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad." Sonder complained as all of them retreated back inside. "You just had to do things your way, Rod. We wouldn't really be in this mess in the first place if you would have just killed them all right from the start."

"I told you it would be more fun this way." Rod said.

"What's done is done and there's nothing we can do about it now." Kallie said.

"They've made their way inside." Kaemin said. "They'll be coming for us. We need to get ourselves ready for battle. So whatever we're going to do, we need to do it now."

"I was hoping to do this here, but there's no time. We'll have to take Natalia to another base and execute her there." Sonder said. "I have a boat on the other side of the platform. If I can get there with this traitor out to the Forgotten Sea, they'll have no way of coming after us."

"Just how do you plan on getting there through all of Fairy Tail?" Natalia questioned. "The moment they see you, especially Natsu, they'll wreck this entire fortress."

"Easy. I can just sneak away with this." Sonder said as he pressed a hidden switch in the wall and a hidden door opened up.

"A secret passage?!" Natalia said. "Even so, that won't be enough to slow them down. They'll turn this entire place inside and out if they have to."

"That's why I have a plan." Rod said with a sneaky smile on his face. "Since Fairy Tail is claimed to be the number one guild in Fiore, we'll test them to the full extent of their abilities."

…

Fairy Tail Team

"For crying out loud, Natsu. How did you get your head stuck in the floor, you idiot?" Gray said as he and Gajeel were trying to pull Natsu's head out with it wedge into the ground. They gave it one last pull and pulled him right out.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. What the hell, Happy?!" Natsu said. "Where did you learn to fly? That was your worst flight yet."

"You're actually blaming me?!" Happy said.

"Who else was carrying me while they were flying?" Natsu said.

"It wasn't my fault!" Happy said. "It was like the weight around us suddenly changed and increased. I couldn't fight against it. I think that means one of these guys can use gravity magic."

"Happy could be right. It did seem like there was a shift in gravity." Erza said.

"Does it really matter? Let's just get up there and make some noise." Gajeel said as he was ready to fight and wanted to see how tough a member of E.R. can really be.

"Gajeel's right. Let's just climb the stairs and get up there before it's too late to do anything." Laxus said.

"Cha-cha-cha. It won't be as easy and simple as you think." All of them looked to the doorway and saw Foota hanging upside down like a bat at the top.

"How is he doing that?!" Lucy said. All of them got ready to fight the first battle, but Foota wasn't really going to fight them.

"There's something you all should know." Foota said. "Natalia's execution ground is going to be moved to a different place. She's being taken to the platform behind us and will soon be heading out to sea."

"No! Not that!" Gray said.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu said.

"I tried to tell you before, but you got impatient." Gray said. "We're by the edge of a part of the ocean called the Forgotten Sea. If they take Natalia out there, there's no way we'll be able to track her."

"However, there's something else." Foota said. "Natalia is wearing sealed stone cuff that block her from using her magic. She becomes less of a hassle thanks to that. Of course, if you want to free her, you're going to need to find the right key."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Erza questioned.

"There are five keys that have been given to a member of E.R." Foota said. "Even if you do manage to save Natalia, you need to find the key to free her. Good luck with your hunting." Foota left through the door and went into hiding.

"So not only do we need to save Natalia before they take her out to sea, but we're also hunting for some keys?" Laxus said.

"Who cares about some dumb keys?! I'm going after Natalia!" Natsu shouted and just started running somewhere in the fortress.

"Natsu, wait!" Happy called out as he chased after him.

"What a bunch of fools." Carla said.

"Lucy, what do you and Natalia see in him?" Gray questioned.

"Let's not be mean about it." Wendy said.

"Actually, let him go. Natsu might have the right idea." Erza said.

"What do you mean?" Gajeel questioned.

"Think about it." Erza said. "That E.R. member just said that we need to find one key to unlock the cuffs that hold down Natalia and there are a total of five. I doubt they're just going to hand them over to us. There are seven of them, but only five keys and at least one of them must be taking Natalia away, but that one could still hold a key."

"I see what you're saying." Lucy said. "They're trying to buy some time by keeping us distracted with this key hunting. So it won't matter even if we get all five keys if they succeed in getting Natalia out of here."

"Exactly." Erza said. "There are more members then there are keys as well. So we won't know who is holding a key and who isn't. However, if we can get Natalia before she heads out to sea, we have a chance."

"I get it. Leave Natsu to go and rescue Natalia while the rest of us go searching for the key that could free her." Laxus said.

"You really think that idiot could pull it off? One of these bastards did give him a good thrashing." Gajeel said.

"We have no choice. Time is something we can't afford to lose. Perhaps with Natsu's strong sense of smell, he'll be able to get to her before it's too late." Erza said.

"Let's hope so. In the meantime, we better split up. We'll cover more ground and find those keys a lot faster." Lucy said and all of them agreed to that. With a plan made, all of them spread out and searched through the fortress to find a key or Natalia.

….

Natalia

Natalia was being taken through some secret passages. Rod and Sonder were making sure that she gets through and plan to take her through the Forgotten Sea.

"That was genius, Rod." Sonder said. "Spreading the keys through the rest of the team will surely keep that group of crazy people occupied long enough for us to escape."

"Yes. If they hope to find the keys in time, they'll have to split up." Rod said. "If they have to fight the others alone, it should buy more time. On top of that, if things go like they did in their guild, they won't stand a chance. All the others have to do is sit tight and wait for Fairy Tail to come to them."

"I'm wondering how a pathetic guild like that is number one in all of Fiore." Sonder said. "Perhaps guilds aren't really all that." As the two of them were talking, Natalia still held on to the hope that she's going to make it out of here, but she knows too well that if the fights go the way Rod says they might, it's not going to go well for Natsu and the others.

'Natsu….everyone….please be careful.' Natalia thought.

…

Gray

Gray and a couple others went up a few levels in the tower itself. Gray was searching around for a sign of Natalia or anyone of E.R. who might be holding a key. He soon came across a wooden door.

"Let's see what's behind door number one." Gray said and kicked the door open. When he went inside, it wasn't what he was expecting. "What the hell?" The room was pink and designed with some furniture that was designed like a bed room, but there was a tub in the middle of the room. "Not what I was expecting for a place built for people who are suppose to be like assassins. Is this a bedroom or a bathroom?" Gray questioned.

"Hm." Gray felt trouble right behind him and that trouble was Kallie. "It's not nice to barge in on a young lady like this." The search for the five keys that will free Natalia begins, but it has already led others into trouble.


	11. Gray Balloon

The search was on for five keys, but only one will be able to unlock the cuffs that hold Natalia. While Natsu goes in search for her, the others spread out and went to locate the keys. Lucy searched through some of the halls to try and find one of the keys.

"Where could they be? I hope everyone else is having better luck than I am." Lucy said.

"Yoho! It would appear that one has come to me."

"Huh? Who said that?" Lucy said as she stopped running and had a look around.

"Yoho!" Lucy looked and saw Yonku dive right down and landed across from her. He took a fighting pose as he looked ready to take action. "Little girl, are you prepared to die?"

'Yeah right.' Lucy thought as she made it look like she was going to fight as she pulled her bow string back. 'I don't need to fight you to the death. I just need to find out where you're holding the key.'

"So are you ready for our fight?" Yonku said.

"Say, I don't suppose you're going to tell me where key of yours is?" Lucy questioned. She had to try and go with the simple direct approach.

"The key?" Yonku said. "It's actually right in my pocket." He said as he patted his side pocket. That was a lot easier than Lucy thought.

"Thanks for the info!" Lucy said as she pulled back the string of her bow and shot some arrows. They all latched on Yonku's clothing and had him pinned to the wall. "I guess there are good things to going against such a weirdo." Lucy undid her Star Dress and started digging in her pocket.

"Yoho! You can't do that!" Yonku said.

"I think I just did." Lucy said as she was able to grab ahold of the key. "Yes. I'm a celestial wizard and obtaining keys is what I do. Later." Lucy turned around and started running, but she heard a strange sound and got her to stop.

"Yoho. I said you can't." Yonku said. Lucy turned around and was surprised to see that Yonku was able to free himself so easily.

"Why can't these things ever be easy?" Lucy questioned.

"Young lady, let me show you happens when you fool around with us." Yonku threatened. He raised his foot and swung it down at her, but Lucy was able to move out of the way. Lucy didn't stick around as she stared running.

'I can't stick around to fight this guy. I need to find one of the others and help Natalia before it's too late.' Lucy thought as she kept running.

"You will not escape." Yonku said and started to go after her.

…

Gray

Gray went in search for one of the keys, but he walked right into trouble. When he came upon one of the rooms, he walked right into the one Kallie was hiding out in. Gray kept his guard up with Kallie right behind him. Kallie took a few steps forward.

"You should know better than to barge into a lady's room." Kallie said. "Do you fairies have any sense of shame?" She walked right past Gray and he was wondering what she was going to do.

"I take it you know why I'm here." Gray said.

"It's not exactly hard to figure out." Kallie said as she took a seat at table that had a tea set on it. Gray was a little confused by that.

"What are you doing?" Gray questioned.

"It happens to be my afternoon tea time." Kallie said as she poured herself a cup. "Care to join me? What's the rush?"

"I didn't come here to drink tea." Gray said as he was already starting to get annoyed.

"There's always time for some tea." Kallie said as she took a sip, but the table and the tea set was instantly frozen and shattered.

"I'm not wasting my time like this. Hand over that key or else." Gray demanded. There certainly is no time for tea with Fairy Tail.

…..

Juvia

While all of them were busy trying to save Natalia, the rest of the guild was keeping the whole town back. During all that, Juvia could feel something wasn't right in the fortress and she could tell it had something to do with Gray.

"Gray, my love?" Juvia said as she was starting to get worried about him. She decided not to sit around and she ran straight for the bridge.

"Juvia, where are you going? Those seven can handle it." Makarov said, but Juvia wasn't listening and just kept going.

'I know that, but I can't shake this bad feeling that something is wrong and what makes me feel this way is that I know it has something to do with my darling.' Juvia thought as she just kept running to find Gray.

…

Erza

Erza scanned the tower and was looking for Natalia or one of the keys. She was running through the levels until she came across a door halfway through the tower and she could feel something on the other side.

"What's in there?" Erza said. She pulled out one of her swords and sliced the door open. Inside was a living room and she saw one of E.R. in there sitting in a chair. "Looks like I found one of you."

"I was actually hoping it would be you." The one in that chair was Kaemin. "I should have realized who you were sooner. It didn't come to me until recently. You're the famous Titania. You're Erza Scarlet."

"So what if I am?" Erza said.

"I heard you're a famous swordswoman. As a fellow swordsman, I would love to face you in battle and see which one is stronger." Kaemin said.

"I see. I hate to disappoint you, but it will have to be a short battle." Erza said as she requiped a pair of swords. "With the life of a comrade on the line, I don't have time to enjoy such a competitive sport. If you hold a key, I'll be taking it."

"I'm afraid the only way you're going to find out if I have one is if you actually do defeat me." Kaemin said with a look in his eyes saying he'll already know the outcome.

"You asked for it." Erza said as she charged right at Kaemin. Kaemin jumped from his chair and pulled out his swords as they both tried to strike each other with swift strikes and sparks going all around. The two of them separated with Kaemin landing on the ground. "You're not getting away that easily." Erza charged at him again and the two of them continued to clash weapons with Kaemin being pushed back.

"I'm impressed. You're every bit of skilled as I heard. I'm disappointed I didn't get to see that back on the train." Kaemin said.

"I haven't even begun to show you my power." Erza said. The two of them separated against and stood off against each other. 'He is skilled. He was able to deflect every single one of my strikes.' She thought. Kaemin has already proven to be a challenge. Kaemin smirked as he was looking forward to this fight as he appeared to have vanished. 'He's so fast!'

"I've got you!" Kaemin said as he appeared right behind her and was about to strike.

"Ataraxia Armor!" Erza requipped her armor and used the wings to block his attack.

"Even more impressive." Kaemin said as he backed away from her. "You were able to requip while anticipating my attack. You're as skilled as you are beautiful. There's just something about you I must ask."

"And what's that?" Erza asked.

"Do you dress in that revealing stuff to distract your opponents or is based on some sexual or some low self-esteem thoughts." Kaemin said.

"What?! Tha…That's really no concern of yours." Erza said with some embarrassment Dance, my swords!" Erza commanded all her swords to strike and it seemed like they made contact with a dust cloud forming. "These swords can slice without even striking. Let's see you avoid this one."

"You mean like this?" Kaemin said as the dust cleared away and the entire area around him was sliced up, but he didn't have one cut on him. Erza couldn't believe it.

'He's more skilled than I thought if he was able to block all that!' Erza thought. 'Still, I mustn't let that stop me. If he is holding a key, I have to get it.'

"Looks like I'm going to have to take this serious." Kaemin said as the two of them were done fooling around.

…

Gray

Gray didn't seem to having much better luck than the girls as he faced against Kallie, but she wasn't fighting or negotiating with him.

"Do you know how expensive it was to get that tea set?" Kallie said.

"I'm not going to waste time like this." Gray said. "I don't want to fight a woman, but I will if I have to. So where is your key?"

"Who knows? You'll have to search my body." Kallie said trying to sound seductive.

"Do you think I'm some sort of pervert?!" Gray said.

"Well….you are half naked." Kallie said.

"I am?!" Gray said and just now noticed his shirt was gone. "When did that happen?" Gray was surprised, but he shook it off. "No more messing around. Where's that key?!" Gray used his magic and formed spikes of ice, but Kallie appeared to have vanished and appeared right in front of Gray. 'She's so fast!' He thought and was met with a powerful kick that sent him flying into the wall. "Damn."

"You certainly are a strange one." Kallie said. "Even as we speak, Natalia is getting closer and closer to her death."

"Yeah. I get it." Gray said. "I'm wasting time in here while Natalia's life is on the line. You surprised me with that attack, but it won't work again. I don't care if you are a woman. I'm still taking you down."

"Do you really think I care if you treat me like a woman or not?" Kallie said. "I hold the skills of an assassin. It doesn't really matter if you fight me or hold back. Your petty threats mean nothing to me."

"Is that so?" Gray said as he got back up. "Let's just see about that."

"I suppose the time for tea is over." Kallie said as both of them were ready and Kallie was the first to move. She moved so fast and tried to kick him, but Gray was able block her attack.

"You E.R. creeps are strong, but no one in Fairy Tail is going down that easily." Gray said. Kallie would like to test that thought as she drove multiple kicks against him and Gray was doing his best to block her. 'She's so fast. It's a little tough to use my maker magic, but I think I can manage a few things.' He thought. He pulled his arm back and had some ice around it. He tried slicing her with it, but Kallie was able to bend back and avoided the attack.

"There!" Kallie said as she tried another kick, but Gray was able to dodge that one.

"I've got you!" Gray said as he was about to strike her, but Kallie acted faster and kicked Gray in "certain" area that made him drop right to his knees. "Aw! How could you?" Kallie added to his suffering by giving him a strong kick and sent him crashing against the wall again.

"Oh please. It's basic battle knowledge. If you see an enemy's weak spot, you strike at it." Kallie said.

"That was a cheap shot." Gray said as he tried to get back up. "You're going to pay for that one."

"I like to see you try." Kallie said.

"That does it." Gray said as he was really annoyed now and had some ice form around his arm again. "Give me the damn key!" He tried to pierce right through her, but she dodged that attack as well and placed her hand on his chest.

"This is the turning point of the battle. If you can't handle this spell, you're done for." Kallie said and Gray didn't like the sound of that, but it was too late for him.

…..

Lucy

Lucy appeared to have lost Yonku as she kept herself hidden. She looked around for him, but saw no sign of him anywhere.

"Looks like I lost him." Lucy said and stared at the key. "At least I managed to get the key." Lucy was a little distracted that she didn't notice something slithering behind her like snakes until they coiled around her and tried to strangle her. "What the? Is this hair?"

"Yoho! I have you now." Yonku said as he appeared behind her and his hair was stretched out. "Now prepare to enter through the golden gates in the sky." Lucy tried to get free, but she was having trouble breathing and he had her restraint. She couldn't even reach her celestial keys to help her. It seemed like she was in trouble here.

"Water Slicer!" Water came and sliced his hair and got Lucy free. Juvia came to the rescue as she appeared between them. "Water Nebula!" Juvia blasted Yonku with all her water power and washed him down the hall. "Come on, Lucy." Lucy agreed and the two of them started running.

"Thanks for the save, Juvia. What are you even doing here?" Lucy said.

"I had the feeling something was wrong. So I came inside the fortress." Juvia said.

"Juvia! Lucy!" Both of them looked ahead and spotted Laxus.

"Laxus! Any luck?" Lucy asked.

"No. This place is huge. What about you?" Laxus said.

"Got one, but the guy who had it isn't far behind us." Lucy said.

"You mean you didn't take him out?" Laxus questioned.

"Got what?" Juvia said.

"You see…." Lucy was about to explain, but she didn't get the chance as something crashed right near them from above. "Don't tell me this place is already falling apart."

"Wait. What is that thing?!" Laxus said. They took a look at what just fell and was horrified. Juvia worse than the others

"It's….It's my darling, Gray!" Juvia said, but Gray looked so different. He was smoother and more rounded.

"What the hell happened to him? He looks like he's been laminated or like a human balloon." Laxus said.

"Gray, can you hear me? Answer me my love." Juvia said in a panic. Luckily, Gray was still conscious and could still move. "What happened to you?"

"I'm sorry. I lost. I couldn't get the damn key." Gray said. With Gray admitting his defeat, a dark cloud loomed over some of them in their thoughts as they wondered what could have happened.

'Gray lost? No way. If he couldn't beat one of these guys, how are we suppose to beat them?' Lucy wondered


	12. Gajeel Vs Foota

Fairy Tail followed their plan to obtain the keys to unlock Natalia from her seal stone cuffs, but they've already ran into some trouble. Lucy was able to get Yonku's key and regrouped with Laxus and Juvia, but something was wrong. Gray crashed down in front of them and something strange happened to his body.

"My darling, please tell me you're going to be okay. Tell me who did this so I can make them pay." Juvia said.

"It is really strange. How could Gray have been beaten?" Lucy said. She heard some snickered and felt some magic power. Lucy looked up and saw Kallie from where Gray fell with a smug look on her face. She went back inside her room and Lucy was starting to figure it out.

"Gray, did you fight that woman with blonde hair?" Lucy asked.

"Don't tell me you went easy because of that." Laxus said.

"No. It wasn't like that at all." Gray said as he tried to get back up. "I tried to fight her, but she was too fast. Then, when she turned my body like this, I couldn't use my magic. I became her punching bag. It's pathetic." Gray said as he felt so much shame for himself for allowing this to happen.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. We don't know much about what these guys can do." Lucy said and changed the look in her eyes to a determined one. "I'll take care of her. You just and rest." Lucy made it to the stairs and went up.

"Wait. I should be the one to go!" Juvia said.

"No, I've got this. Besides, don't you think Gray would much rather have you by his side since he appears to be so disappointed in himself." Lucy said that and when she heard that, Juvia had a change of mind.

"You're right. I'll stay with him." Juvia said.

'Wow. Today is full of surprises.' Lucy thought. 'I only said that so things would be easier to move along.'

"Yoho!"

"You've got to be kidding." Lucy said. They looked down the hall and saw Yonku coming back for some more.

"I won't allow you to escape." Yonku said.

"Go ahead, Lucy. I'll take care of this freak." Laxus said.

"Thanks." Lucy said and went on ahead. Yonku was about to go after her, but Laxus stood in the way.

"If you want any of them, you have to get through me." Laxus said.

"Standing in the way to protect your comrades? How chivalrous, but that won't mean you get any mercy." Yonku said. He stretched out his hair again, but Laxus was able to grab a hold of it.

"If your hair is all you got, you're in a lot of trouble." Laxus said. He had his lightning travel through and electrocute Yonku. He pulled Yonku's hair and swung him around and down the other hall with Laxus going after him. Juvia helped Gray and had him rest against the wall, but she feared for the others after seeing what only a few members can do.

'So this is the power of E.R.' Juvia thought. 'No wonder this organization has been around for a century. I hope everyone makes it out in one piece.' While Juvia took care of Gray, Lucy made it to the floor where Gray fell out of and was in front of closed doors.

'Okay. This woman is strong since she was able to take on Gray, but I can't let that scare me.' Lucy thought as she tried to be brave. She was about to enter when she heard a strange sound coming from the other side. "Is that water?" Lucy didn't know what was going on, but she ran in either way and was surprised at what was in front of her. Kallie was actually taking a bubble bath.

"Your guild doesn't really seem to know anything about manners." Kallie said.

'Is she really taking a bath now?' Lucy thought. Suddenly, Lucy felt herself getting weak in the knees and dropped to the floor that had some soap suds around her. 'What? What's going on? My energy feels like it's fading.' Now Lucy has to be the one that defeated Gray, but what power does she possess?

…

Wendy

Wendy and Carla were searching through the fortress and soon came upon another level on the tower themselves and soon came across another room in the tower.

"Are you ready?" Carla said.

"I am. We've got to do this for Natalia." Wendy said. She opened the door and it looked like they were inside a small garden. They went inside and had a look around "Wow. This place actually looks nice."

"Be on guard. It might look nice, but there's an enemy somewhere around here." Carla said.

"You've got to be kidding me. A cat and a little girl?" Both of them looked across from themselves and was faced with Jaccu, but he seemed disappointed.

"It's him again!" Wendy said.

"The one who uses maker magic like Gray." Carla said.

"This is a major bummer." Jaccu said. "I heard that the women in Fairy Tail are all pretty smoking hot. If I had to fight a woman, I was hoping it would be one of them. Instead I get stuck with a brat and her pet." Hearing how Wendy is compared to the others made her feel a little self-conscious.

"It's not my fault." Wendy said.

"Stay focus, child." Carla said.

"Oh well. This shouldn't take long." Jaccu said as he was getting ready to fight. Just before they did, they heard some sort of rumble sound and looked to the ceiling. It began to fall to pieces and they could see Kaemin falling with Erza in her purgatory armor. Both of them separated and landed near their respective comrades.

"You're good, but not good enough." Kaemin said.

"Erza!" Wendy said and got her attention.

"Carla? Wendy? I wasn't aware you were right behind me." Erza said.

"You just landed down here. So you found an opponent yourself?" Wendy said.

"Yes and he's quite skilled with a blade." Erza said.

"Woo! Is that Titania? Kaemin, switch opponents with me." Jaccu said.

"No way." Kaemin said. "Knowing you, you'll spend more time flirting than actually fighting. Besides, this is a battle between swordsmen like us and I have no intention of turning away."

"Bring it." Erza said as she requipped again to Morning Star. "I don't have any intention on losing." Both of them charged right at each other and clashed their blades. There might be some added help, but these battles haven't really changed.

…

Gajeel

"Damn. Damn. Damn." Gajeel said as he was running through the place and he was getting annoyed. "I come all this way for a fight and there's not a single enemy to be found. Where the hell are they all?"

"Cha-cha-cha." Gajeel heard a voice and it sounded close. "It sounds like you are itching for a fight. If you want one so bad, maybe I can help with that."

"Where are you?" Gajeel said as he looked around for him. He soon felt the weight around him increase and he dropped to the ground. Gajeel was able to look up and saw Foota hanging on the ceiling. "That's the same guy as before. He must be the one that uses gravity magic." Foota came down and used his magic to lift Gajeel off the ground.

"So you're one of them as well." Foota said. "Your guild is something else, but it seems like you all are nothing, but talk."

"Is that what you think?" Gajeel said with a smirk. "I be happy to prove you wrong. Iron Dragon Roar!" Gajeel released his roar at such close range and it blasted Foota back and got Gajeel free. "I'm about to show you why you should never underestimate Fairy Tail." Gajeel ran straight at Foota. "So hand over that key!"

"Cha-cha-cha. Nice try." Foota said as he had the gravity around Gajeel increased. "I have you now. No way you can get out of this."

"You think so? Think again!" Gajeel said as he was able to fight off the gravity and kept moving. Foota was surprised by this as Gajeel land a powerful punch across this face.

'No way! How could he still move?' Foota thought, but he needed to keep fighting. He pushed Gajeel's arm aside and gave a pretty good punch against Gajeel himself.

'What? How could someone so scrawny throw a mean punch?' Gajeel thought. Both of them glared right at each other and started throwing punch after punch against the other and it appeared to be a surprisingly even fight.

'This guy is tougher than he looks. I feel like I'm punching iron.' Foota thought as he didn't understand.

"Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel stretched out his arm as a club and it made a strong hit against Foot.

'What?! Of course. He's a dragon slayer and his element IS iron.' Foota acknowledge before he was smashed through the wall and found himself in the kitchen. Gajeel went in after him.

"The kitchen? Sweet. I could use a little snack." Gajeel said. Gajeel was about to continue his fight when he heard something else come through the wall and saw Laxus trying to be constricted by Yonku. "Laxus?"

"Get off me, you creep." Laxus said and tried to electrocute Yonku, but he noticed something wasn't right. 'This doesn't make sense. My electric attacks aren't having as much of an effect on him. Still, I can't handle him.' Laxus thought and slammed him against the fridge and was able to get himself free. "You need to chill." Laxus opened the fridge and tossed Yonku right inside.

"Yoho. You think this will hold me?" Yonku said, but Laxus closed the door on him.

"A lock! Perfect." Laxus said as he locked the fridge and catch his breath. "Damn. That guy was a real freak. My attacks were hardly working. I wonder why."

"Laxus!" Laxus turned around and noticed Gajeel.

"Gajeel? You're here too?" Laxus said.

"Yeah. What gives? Don't we need that guy's key?" Gajeel asked.

"It's okay. Lucy already got it and she's getting another right now." Laxus said. "Having any luck?" Before Gajeel could answer, a whole bunch of knives and forks were tossed and appeared to have impaled Gajeel. "The hell?!" Laxus turned to where they came from and spotted Foota.

"Cha-cha-cha. Was it really a wise idea to start a conversation when I'm still around?" Foota questioned.

"Did you really think that would stop me?" Foota was surprised as he saw the silverware actually broke to pieces when it made contact with Gajeel and he actually ate a few that was in his mouth. "I said I needed a snack. Thanks for that."

"Cha-cha-cha. What?! How did you do that?" Foota said. "Are you telling me you actually eat metal? I heard that dragon slayers do that, but I didn't think it was real."

"Oh. It's true for sure." Gajeel said as he was walking closer to him. Foota got a little nervous and had the gravity around Gajeel increase to hold him down, but Gajeel kept going.

"What?! Gravity? I guess this creep is the reason that Natsu crashed earlier." Laxus said.

"Cha-cha-cha! How is this possible? Shouldn't your body be practically made out of iron?! Iron weighs a ton! How in the hell can you possibly be moving?!" Foota said as Gajeel kept moving.

"It's simple really. Nothing can stop me when I'm moving!" Gajeel said as he got up real close to Foota. "Iron Dragon Hard Fist!" Gajeel landed a strong blow and sent Foota flying again through some walls and ended up outside. His body and soul might be made out of iron, but this piece of iron isn't stopping until he beats down anyone who would get in his way.


	13. Fleeing Hope

Fairy Tail's battle against E.R.7. has been going back and forth so far with both sides being even. E.R.7. is putting up a fight against some of Fairy Tail's best, but that doesn't stop them. The others are in engaged in some battles, but Natsu continues to track down Natalia. After a frantic search, he and Happy somehow ended up at the top of the tower.

"Natsu, did you really think they keep her up here?" Happy questioned. "This is where they were when he first showed ourselves to them. Did you really think they would stay here?"

"Have to search somewhere." Natsu said and started sniffing his nose. "Natalia's scent is still here. It's mixed in with some of the others, but her flower scent stands out from the rest of them."

"That means you should be able to track her, right?" Happy said.

"Way ahead of you." Natsu said as he started sniffing around like a dog. It lead him right to the wall, but Happy was having doubts.

"I think your nose might be on the fritz." Happy said. Natsu knew his nose too well to have doubts. Natsu pounded the wall and they could see the secret passages.

"Don't doubt the nose. They must have taken her down this way." Natsu said.

"So if we follow the path, it should lead us to Natalia." Happy said.

"Yeah, but there are a couple other scents down there. Doesn't matter." Natsu said. "Nothing is going to stop us from saving out friend." Natsu ran down the hall with Happy flying after him.

…..

Natalia

Natalia continued being escorted by Rod and Sonder. She's hoping someone from the guild will come to rescue her, but it wasn't looking so good for her.

"Are you worried about your little friends, Natalia?" Sonder said. "You don't really have time to worry about such trivial things. There's no way they can defeat this unit and there's no way they will be able to find us. Just give up any hope of you getting out."

"Well, that's not entirely true. There actually is a way for them to track us." Rod said.

"Huh? What are you talking about? How could they track us?" Sonder questioned.

"I heard that dragon slayers actually possess a stronger sense of smell than most people. They could track us by scent." Rod said.

"Say what?!" Sonder said as he couldn't believe Rod didn't say anything about this. "Rod, you knew that? If you knew that, why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"You didn't ask." Rod said, but he actually had a hidden agenda.

"What?! Don't you think that was important information to know? We don't want them to chase after us!" Sonder said as he had them stop. "You're protecting me, aren't you? You should be able to make calls like that on your own." As the two of them were arguing, Natalia looked back and was hoping for the best. "Hey." Natalia turned to him, but he smacked her across the face. "Don't think this changes anything. You'll still be dead either way." Natalia glared right at Sonder. He was surely the lowest of the low. "You really are more trouble than you're worth. Rod, drag her if you have to." Rod reached over and grabbed Natalia and dragged her with them.

'Natsu…I know it's you coming. I just know it. Please hurry.' Natalia thought.

…

Gajeel

Gajeel was able to meet up with Laxus in the kitchen after coming across Foota. Foota's specialty is gravity magic, but that isn't stopping Gajeel since he was able to pound Foota right outside.

"Cha-cha-cha. What is with this guy?" Foota said as he got back up. "I thought I could immobilize him, but this guy is a lot tougher than he looks."

"Nice punch." Laxus said.

"I'm just getting started." Gajeel said as he popped his knuckles. "I wish I could pound this guy around all day, but we're in a hurry." Gajeel ran right at Foota. "Hand over that damn key!"

"Cha-cha-cha! This guy is a monster!" Foota said as he used his magic and had the gravity around Gajeel go sideways. He tried to push Gajeel back, but Gajeel was holding out and it seemed like he was running on a treadmill.

"You think a little push can stop me?" Gajeel said as he tried to fight against it.

"Cha-cha-cha! What is the deal with this guy?" Foota said. Foota put a little more power in his magic and was able to have Gajeel slide back and had him hit the wall.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of him." Laxus said as he was building some electricity around his arm.

"Get in line, thunder troll." Gajeel said. "Do I look like I'm beaten? This is my opponent. You already got your opponent."

"Who do you think you're talking too? I'm one of E.R. I'll show you my power." Foota said as he was running back in and kept the fight between him and Gajeel going.

"So far I'm not impressed. Iron Dragon Roar!" Gajeel said and unleashed his breath attack.

"Idiot. If my magic can work on you, it can surely work against your spells." Foota said and used his magic against Gajeel's roar and had it dispersed. However, Foota appeared to have vanished.

"Where'd he go?" Laxus said.

"I don't know, but he's not getting away." Gajeel said and ran through the whole and made it outside. "Where is he?"

"Up here!" Gajeel looked up to be met with a powerful right hook and was shoved against the ground.

"Bastard!" Gajeel was able to swing his leg around and give Foota a powerful kick and knocked him off. Gajeel got back up and gave Foota a strong uppercut that pushed him back some.

"Cha-cha-cha. This guy is really starting to get on my nerves." Foota said. He looked around to see what he could use to help beat him and noticed how close they were to the water. "That's it. I hope you can swim." Foota was using his magic again and tried pushing Gajeel into the sea.

"You're not pushing me around this time." Gajeel said. He reached out to Foota and Foota got a little scared at the thought of what he was doing.

"You're crazy. You're not dragging me in with you." Foota said. He added some more power to it, but Gajeel grabbed Foota's arm when he did and wouldn't let go. That caused both of them to be flying off the fortress and over the water. Both of them fell in and were out of sight.

"Gajeel!" Laxus called out as he ran out and tried to find them from above the fortress. Gajeel and Foot emerged with Gajeel holding on to Foota and started pounding him around.

"Let's see you try and get out of this." Gajeel said. "Did you really think a little water could stop me?"

"Wait, you idiot." Foota said.

"Not a chance." Gajeel said as he was ready to cause Foota to blackout.

"Gajeel, you're heading to the waterfall!" Laxus called out. Gajeel heard him, but he didn't noticed because he was distracted with beating Foota around. Gajeel took a look behind Foota and saw they were about to head down.

"Oh crud! Looks like we're both goners." Gajeel said.

"You are. I'm out of here." Foota said as he used his magic around himself and tried floating out of the water.

"Oh no you don't!" Gajeel said as he grabbed a hold of Foota and was floating with him, but the added weight appeared to have some effect on Foota's control over his power.

"Cha-cha-cha! Let go you idiot. You could cause both of us to go over the falls." Foota said. "You're extra weight is causing some problems."

"So you better us over the land quickly." Gajeel said. He was actually entrusting his life to an enemy, but if the enemy wants to stay alive as well, he's got no choice, but to help Gajeel. As that was going on, Laxus watched from the safety of the fortress on the upper level, but he heard a strange sound coming from the kitchen.

"What's going on in there?" Laxus questioned. Laxus went to check it out and saw the fridge was shaking. "That other guy is trying to break out." The door burst right off and Laxus was ready for him.

"That…..was….quite…..pleasant actually." Yonku said.

"Huh? This guy sounds different." Laxus said. He watched as Yonku stepped out and he couldn't believe what was right in front of him. Yonku was much bigger like he was stuffed and actually had some food in his mouth. "Are you kidding me?! Did you eat everything in the fridge?!" These members of E.R. are quite unpredictable. Being unpredictable also has an effect on one's hope. It can cause it to rise or flee and so far it's troubling for Fairy Tail.

…

Lucy

Lucy wasn't fairing much better herself. She went to face Kallie after Gray failed to beat her, but she isn't any better than he was. Kallie was taking a bath and Lucy, for some reason, barely has any energy to stand.

"I thought you came here to fight. Is there a problem?" Kallie said.

"Quit taunting." Lucy said. "I don't know what kind of powers you have, but I won't go down as easily as you might think."

"Really? You mean unlike that last fairy that came in here?" Kallie said and Lucy scowled at her for looking down on Gray. "It is your move. The battle has already begun." Lucy tried to get back up, but was still having trouble.

'My strength seems to be coming back a little, but it's still not enough.' Lucy thought. She remembered what happened to Gray and she knew the real danger hasn't even come yet. 'Whatever happened to Gray, she's the one who did it. That happens and I lost some strength. How is she doing it?'

"Well, my bath time is about over." Kallie said as she got out of the bath. "Please excuse me." She lowered a curtain so she could change in private.

'I can't let things go like this.' Lucy thought as she was doing her best and noticed much more of her strength was coming back. 'Yes. That's it.' Lucy was able to get back on her feet just as finished Kallie finished changing into her clothes.

"Oh! Are you ready to get serious?" Kallie said.

"That does it!" Lucy said and pulled out one of her keys. "Open, Gate of the Archer: Sagittarius!" She called for one of her spirits and Sagittarius rose.

"You called, milady." Sagittarius said.

"Interesting. So you use spirits to fight along with you." Kallie said.

"Make it so she doesn't move around so much." Lucy said.

"I'm on it." Sagittarius said as he took aim and fired some arrows. Kallie didn't even try to dodge them. The arrows grazed against Kallie, but she wasn't wounded or anything. She transformed into a bunch of bubbles and dispersed. "What's this?"

"Bubbles?! What?!" Lucy said. "Was that some sort of bubble clone? Then, where'd she go?"

"Right behind you." Kallie said as she appeared behind Lucy and gave her a strong kick that knocked her against the tub.

"Lady Lucy!" Sagittarius called out.

"You get lost." Kallie said as she drove her knee against Sagittarius' gut and slammed her foot against his head.

"I'm sorry, Lady Lucy. I must be going now." Sagittarius said before he vanished.

"I'm afraid you're going to need more than you little pets to beat me." Kallie said. Lucy managed to get back up and was wondering what was going on.

'How is she doing that?' Lucy thought. 'That clone was made out of bubbles. Come to think of it, there were bubbles on the floor when I walked in.' She took a look at the spot she was on earlier and noticed the bubbles were gone. "Hold on. Do you use some sort of bubble magic that gives your opponents a relaxing feeling and drains them of their strength?" Kallie was always the calm kind of person, but not right now.

"What?! How could you have known?! Who told you?!" Kallie said.

"A little sensitive, are we? All I did was take a guess." Lucy said. 'Okay. I now know what type of magic she can use, but I still don't know what she did to Gray exactly.' She thought. Kallie adjusted her glasses and got serious.

"Still you won't be able to win." Kallie said as she held her palm up to her moth and she blew against it with all kinds of bubbles coming off her hand and surrounded Lucy. "Bubble magic might look playful and it actually makes cleaning yourself a whole lot easier, but it can also be quite dangerous."

"What do you mean?" Lucy questioned, but she had a feeling she wasn't going to like it.

"This is what I mean." Kallie said. "Popping Burst!" She snapped her fingers and all the bubbles started to pop with each one releasing a shockwave that blasted Lucy. Her body felt like she was getting smashed from all ends of her body. When it all settled, Lucy dropped to the ground. "Every member in this unit possess a magic that might seem like nothing, but each one is powerful in their own way. As we continue this, Natalia is getting further and further away. Your guild might have defeated E.R.6., but we are on a different level. Soon, we'll reach the point where you can't do anything to stop us." Lucy wasn't giving up yet. Natsu is chasing after Natalia, but there's no telling how much closer she is to the Forgotten Sea. Time continues to run out, but everyone is going against an enemy they just can't seem to get through.


	14. Stretch It Out

Fairy Tail continues to fight off against E.R.7., but the unit is holding its own against some of Fairy Tail's strongest. As it all goes on, Natalia is getting further and further away from them. Right now, Erza is trying to fight off Kaemin, but Kaemin's skills with a blade are about on the same level as her own. At the same moment, Wendy and Carla were fighting Jaccu.

"Requip! Flame Empress Armor!" Erza changed her armor around and came right down at Kaemin with some fire around her sword. Kaemin crossed his blades and was able to block the attack.

"Try again, Erza." Kaemin said. Erza pulled back a hand and added her water sword to her hand. She swung at him with it, but Kaemin moved her fire sword out of the way and was able to dodge her attack. "Mixing fire and water? Two elements that are opposites? You're getting craftier, Erza."

"You haven't seen anything yet." Erza said as she spun around and had fire and water spiral around her, but Kaemin jumped over her and avoided the attack. While those two were fighting, Wendy was doing her best against Jaccu.

"Sky Dragon Talon!" Wendy swung a kick at Jaccu, but Jaccu was able to catch it. He tried his best to hold it back, but there was some force behind it.

"Not bad for a little girl." Jaccu said. Carla changed into her human form and came down from above at him.

"White Moon!" Carla was about to land her own kick on him, but Jaccu was able to grab that kick as well. He slammed the two of them together and tossed them back.

"Are you okay, Carla?" Wendy said.

"Don't worry about me. Let's just stay focus on defeating this enemy and getting his key." Carla said.

"You little ladies are going to have to step up your game if you want to beat me." Jaccu said. "Then again, this isn't really a place for children. Maybe come back when you have more of a chest to show." That got to Wendy as she crossed her arms.

"What nerve to say such things!" Carla said.

"Jaccu, stop acting like a flirty perv and just take the enemy out." Kaemin said as he continued to fight Erza.

"Fine." Jaccu said with some annoyance. He took his stance and used his magic. "Iron-Make: Shotgun!" Jaccu shot out pieces of iron, but Carla and Wendy were able to move out of the way. "I'll give them this much. Those two are quick on their feet." Kaemin and Erza separated from each other and regrouped with the others.

"You two holding up okay?" Erza said.

"Yeah. We're okay." Wendy said.

"They're more skilled in fighting than I thought." Kaemin said.

"No joke. I'm surprised they've even lasted this long." Jaccu said.

"In that case….I'll put an end to this fight." Kaemin said as he crossed his blades. Kaemin started to spin around and started to go faster and faster. "They won't make it after I use this attack."

"Whoa! Time to get down!" Jaccu said as he dropped to the ground.

"What are they doing?" Wendy questioned.

"I don't know, but I know I don't like it." Carla said. Erza began to feel magic power beginning to build up and was sensing some trouble.

"Both of you get behind me!" Erza ordered. Both of them didn't waste a second as they did what she said. Erza requipped into her Adamantine Armor. She brought her shields together and braced herself for whatever Kaemin was doing.

"Ring of Guillotine!" Kaemin suddenly stopped spinning and released a ring that expanded and sliced right through the air. It slammed against the shield and was doing her best to hold off the attack, but it was a lot stronger than it seemed.

"Wendy, try casting a defense enchantment!" Carla said.

"Right. Armor!" Wendy said. Erza glowed a bright pink and her defensive power went up. Erza was still struggling to hold the attack back, but it held and the rest of the ring expanded outwards and sliced right through the wall. Erza was able to hold, but her shield was all cracked up.

"Impressive. Blocking that spell is extremely difficult." Kaemin said.

"How about you watch it next time?! I could have lost my head!" Jaccu said.

"Stop putting up such a fuss. You knew to duck down from that attack." Kaemin said.

"What if I didn't?!" Jaccu said.

"Things would be a lot quieter around here." Kaemin said and Jaccu continued to get annoyed with him.

"Erza, are you okay?" Wendy asked.

"I'm fine." Erza said, but she was having other thoughts. 'If Wendy hadn't cast her enchantment on me, it would have broken through my shield. He certainly is a strong swordsmen.'

"Anything else you would like to try, Erza?" Kaemin asked. Erza could see what a formidable foe Kaemin was, but she can't keep wasting time with him. Erza requipped into her Clear Heart Clothing and pulled out Crimson Blossom.

"I might still have a trick or two up my sleeve." Erza said. She needs to end this quickly, but can't hold anything back anymore. Perhaps focusing entirely on offense will give the edge she needs.

…..

Laxus

Laxus was having trouble himself against Yonku. Yonku may not seem all that tough, but apparently he is. He's able to hold his own against Laxus and Laxus' electric attack don't appear to be having as much effect on him.

"Yoho…. You….are strong, but…..still….can't win." Yonku said with his entire body filled with whatever was in the fridge.

"Don't you know it's rude to talk with your mouth full?" Laxus said. "Now look at yourself. You look more bloated than a sea slug."

"I….can…fix that." Yonku said and Laxus was a little curious as to how he would do that. "Squeeze!" Suddenly, all the extra fat disappeared and Yonku's body was back to normal.

"What?!" Laxus said as he couldn't believe what he just saw.

"Better?" Yonku asked.

"Sure, but how the hell did you do that?" Laxus said.

"Yoho. This body of mine can stretch and expand like that of an octopus." Yonku said. "The thin or fat of the human body matters not thanks to my stretching magic."

"What kind of magic?" Laxus questioned.

"Stretching magic." Yonku said and to show what he means, he had his arms and legs stretch around. "It's a magic that allows me to stretch any part of my body to however I desire."

"Stretch your body? I guess that would explain stuff that was going on with your hair earlier." Laxus said. "I know a few girls that might like to know that magic. Makes dieting look easy."

"Yoho. This magic is mighty. The mysteries of magic itself has made by body similar to rubber." Yonku said.

'Rubber?! Now I get it!' Laxus thought. 'Rubber can't really conduct electricity. They're natural opposites. That would explain why my lightning isn't having much effect on him.'

"Now to show you the full extent of my magic." Yonku said as he stretched out his fingers. "Tip Whip!" He started flailing his fingers around like whips and they were all lashing against Laxus and he was doing his best to block all of his attacks.

"No way I'm going to be defeated by a stretching freak." Laxus said.

"Yoho. Not enough for you, is it? How about this?" Yonku said as he stretched his fingers back and stretched his fist back as far as he could. He shot it right forward and it slammed against Laxus like a flare. It actually packed a punch to it. Yonku grabbed a hold of Laxus and tossed him against the kitchen cabinets.

'The bastard is tougher than I thought.' Laxus thought as he got back on his feet.

"Try some of this. Tip Whip and Hair Whip!" Yonku used fingers and his hair and had them all whip and lash against Laxus and his clothes were starting to tear. "Yoho! Do you feel the pain?"

"I've had it with him." Laxus said and grabbed a hold of some of Yonku. He used his electricity and zapped Yonku to try and fight back, but Yonku was enduring it.

"It won't work!" Yonku said through the lightning and was able to wrap some of his fingers around his neck. He shoved Laxus against the wall and pulled Laxus over to him so he could grab him by the neck and try to strangle him. "Yoho. Will you admit defeat before being sent through the golden gates in the sky?"

"Not on your life." Laxus said with his little breath.

"It's not mine that's about to go. It's going to be yours." Yonku said.

"No way in hell!" Laxus shouted and released a ton of his lightning. Laxus took a look and saw that Yonku's face was twitching in pain. 'I get it now. His body is similar to rubber, but not exact. Lightning is only half of effective against him, but he is affected by it.' He thought and brought his hands together. "Lightning Dragon Jaw!" Laxus hammered his hands against Yonku's head and slammed him against the ground and got his neck free. Laxus gave Yonku a strong kick and sent him flying into the wall. "That's more like it."

"Yoho. You are a powerful beast of lightning, but I will not fall so easily to you." Yonku said as he got right back up.

"You're a tough bastard, but I can't keep playing around with you." Laxus said. "I've got someone in our guild who could be in a lot of trouble. I've got some catching to do before it's too late."

"You won't be doing anything!" Yonku said. He stretched both of his hands and they had some speed to it, but Laxus was able to block both attacks and he grabbed a hold of his hands. "What?!"

"It's going to take a hell of a lot more than you to really stop me." Laxus said and released even more lightning with Yonku getting electrocuted.

"It won't do any good." Yonku said as he endured the lightning. "Lightning only has half of an effect on me. You can zap me all you wish, but my strong soul cannot be damaged and my body can endure."

"You think so? You better think again. You're still taking some deamage." Laxus said. "I don't care how tough the enemy is. Neither does anyone else in the guild. You bastards kidnapped one of our own and for that you will pay."

"Yoho. A cruel fate awaits her as well as it does you. So tragic, but it must be done!" Yonku said.

"Not as long as there is still a single member of the guild left to fight!" Laxus said. "You know, my great grandfather was one of the guild's founders. My grandfather is the master. So I have a responsibility to protect everyone in the guild! I've got to uphold their legacy and they would protect the guild even if it costs them their lives." He pulled Yonku over to him and his lightning was changing to red.

"Red lightning?! What is this?!" Yonku said.

"Megaton: Red Lighting!" Laxus slammed his red lighting right against Yonku's back and smashed him into the floor. The lightning that goes beyond lightning and knocked him right out. The dedication Laxus holds for the guild and everyone in it goes out further than anyone, even with stretching powers, can reach. With that, a member of E.R.7. has finally fallen.


	15. Bubble Trouble

Laxus stands over a defeated Yonku. Yonku's magic made it a little more challenging than Laxus thought, but he was able to win in the end. Still, Lucy already got his key and now that's one less enemy to worry about.

"I hope the others are having better luck." Laxus said, but is not aware of the challenges that they are all facing.

…

Lucy

Lucy wasn't doing much better against Kallie. Kallie's bubble magic was more dangerous than it looked. It has the ability to drain some energy out of whoever Kallie uses it on. She also did something to Gray and that's exactly what Lucy was on the lookout for.

"Are there any other spirits you like to try and summon?" Kallie questioned. "Do you plan on letting your spirits do all the fighting for you?"

"No. I'll find some way to beat you while keeping my spirits safe from harm by you." Lucy said.

"Really? I've faced a few celestial wizards before." Kallie said. "They always let their spirits do all the fighting. Without them, they'll be helpless. You won't be any different."

"We'll see about that." Lucy said as she pulled out her whip and lashed it out at Kallie, but Kallie moved quickly and was able to avoid it. "Gray was right! She's fast!"

"Gray's the man that was in here, wasn't he?" Kallie said as she appeared next to Lucy and gave her a strong kick to the side that knocked her down. "I can tell he was actually stronger. So this won't take much longer."

"I'm not beaten yet!" Lucy said as she tried her whip again, but Kallie jumped and flipped over Lucy and got behind her. Kallie placed her hands around her and had her in her clutches. "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry. You won't feel a thing." Kallie said as she kept her hands right on Lucy and bubbles started to for, and the bubbles were soon covering Lucy up entirely.

"What's happening?" Lucy said.

"Bubble Body!" Kallie said as she swiped her hands away. The bubbles cleared away and something happened with Lucy as she felt some of her power was gone and she dropped her keys and her whip.

"What the heck?!" Lucy said as she looked over herself and she looked just like Gray did when he crashed near her earlier. "This is what she did to Gray. What did you do to me? I look like some sort of doll."

"I'll admit that it doesn't do well with your curves, but it makes you feel refreshed." Kallie said. Lucy tried grabbing her keys and her whip, but she couldn't keep a hold on them or even stay on her feet. She kept slipping around.

"I can't grab my keys or my fleuve d'teroiles." Lucy said.

"You're in quite the predicament, aren't you?" Kallie asked. "Without your keys, how can you really summon your spirits to help you?" Lucy could see she was in a lot of trouble now and didn't know how to get out of this. "You never think of it before, but all forms of magic has movements or postures that must be done in order to use whatever magic you learned."

"What?" Lucy said.

"You probably never noticed before, but there is always a certain posture, a stance or movement, you must take when casting a spell." Kallie said.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy said.

"Let's take you for example." Kallie said. "In order to really use your kind of magic, you must be able to grab a hold of those keys and hold them out to open a gate. If you can't really do that, how else can you really summon a spirit? Since your body is all slippery that you can't even keep your balance, how exactly can you do that?"

'She's right!' Lucy thought as she realized what Kallie was talking about. 'That must have been what Gray meant. Whenever he uses his magic, he always places his fist in his hand. Since his body is like this, his hands must have kept slipping and he couldn't use his maker magic to make anything proper.'

"Since you're not able to use your magic anymore, you're nothing more than my new dummy to practice my kick boxing." Kallie said. Kallie gave Lucy a powerful kick and Lucy slid against the floor until she hit the wall. Since Lucy isn't able to use her magic, how is she suppose to fight back?

…..

The Town

Things have pretty much settled in the town. Fairy Tail was able to get most of the townsfolk to settle down even when they were all holding back. They were putting all their faith in Natsu and the others at this point.

"Panther Lily, do you think they're all okay in there?" Levy asked.

"I'm sure they're fine. Everyone in there is among the strongest in the guild and they are hardly ever defeated." Panther Lily said.

"I guess you're right. You know, if you want to go in there to help Gajeel, its fine by me." Levy said.

"I appreciate your concern for Gajeel and what I would want, but I gave my word to him that I would protect you." Panther Lily said. Levy appreciated how concern Gajeel was, but sometimes she does wish he stopped worrying so much. She might be pregnant, but she can handle herself just fine. As she looked towards the fortress, something caught her eye and it was floating up by the side of the fortress.

"What is that? Something is flying up by the fortress?" Levy said. Panther Lily was able to find a pair of binoculars and looked towards where Levy was looking and saw Gajeel flying up with Foota.

"It's Gajeel!" Panther Lily said.

"What?! Give me those!" Levy said as she yanked them out of his paws and saw it for herself. "What is he….? Ugh! He always does something crazy. Panther Lily, get me there."

"Levy, I can't. Gajeel wouldn't want that." Panther Lily said, but Levy grabbed him by the neck and had him look at her. Next thing he knew was that sweet Levy had the face of a demon where even a brave warrior like Lily could only tremble in fear. "Okay. We'll go there." 'Is this common with all pregnant woman or is she taking lessons from Erza?'

…

Gajeel

"Come on. Can't you get back up there any faster?" Gajeel said as he was hanging onto Foota as Foota used his gravity magic to get them away from the falls and back on the fortress.

"Cha-cha-cha. I'm trying." Foota said. Foota waited until they were in the right position and when he saw that they were, he snickered. "Now!" Foota grabbed a hold of Gajeel.

"What are you doing?" Gajeel questioned.

"This!" Foota said and added some power to his magic and caused them to start rolling around like a bowling ball. "I'll slam you against the tower!"

"So that's what you were going for. At this speed, that might be painful, but I got a much better idea." Gajeel said as he positioned himself and actually straddled Foota with him locking his legs.

"Whatever you're doing won't work. There's nothing you can do." Foota said.

"You think so?" Gajeel taunted. "Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel stretched out his club and it slammed against the fortress. It was painful, but he was able to stop Foota's rotation.

"No way! We're not even rotating anymore! He used his club like an anchor!" Foota said and they began to fall again.

"There we go." Gajeel as he pulled his arm back. "We're right back over land. Now to finish this. Let's see how you handle my roar at point-blank range." Foota wasn't really ready to find out.

"Are you crazy?! Get off me!" Foota said as he tried to pound Gajeel off him, but Gajeel grabbed his arms and moved them out of the way.

"Iron Dragon Roar!" Gajeel unleashed his roar at such a close range. He released Foota and Foota was slammed into the ground from Gajeel's roar and made a crater. Gajeel landed down on the little land that surrounds the fortress. He looked down at the damage he did. "Ooh! That's not pretty. I just hope the key is still in one piece." Not a pretty ending, but at least one more of E.R.7. has been beaten.

…..

Lucy

Without being able to use Star Dress, her whip, or summon her spirits, all Lucy could do was endure Kallie's attacks. Kallie wasn't showing any mercy as she just kicked Lucy around. Lucy laid on the ground with Kallie standing like she's already won.

"Have you had enough or do you want me to just end your life? I'm willing to spare you." Kallie said.

'No. I can't let it end like this. There has to be some way to lift this spell.' Lucy thought as she lifted her head and glared at her.

"Why are you looking at me like that? You don't really think you can win, do you?" Kallie said. Lucy looked around and spotted her keys. She just needs to get a hold of them and maybe she can use them. "Whatever you're thinking of doing isn't going to work."

"We'll see about that." Lucy said as she ran towards her keys. She kept sliding around, but she kept trying to gain her balance. Lucy was able to get her keys and keep them in place, but they kept sliding around her hands.

"I told you it's pointless." Kallie said as she appeared next to Lucy and gave her another strong kick. Lucy slid against the ground and ended up falling in the tub and got all soaked. "What? How is there water in the tub?" She thought about and realized why and felt so silly for doing something so stupid. "Oops. Silly me. I never drained it." Lucy got out of the tub and was taking deep breaths.

"Now isn't really the time for a bath." Lucy said, but soon realized she wasn't sliding around. She looked and saw her body was back to normal. "My body is back?" She looked around and saw why. "That's it! The water washed it off." She didn't get to appreciate it long as Kallie appeared behind her and gave her another strong kick that knocked her out of the tub and she rolled around out the door. Lucy looked down the railings and saw Juvia and Gray were still down there. "Juvia!" Juvia looked up and spotted her.

"Lucy?" Juvia said.

"I figure it out. Water. Water will…." Lucy didn't finish as Kallie grabbed her by the legs and tossed her back against the tub.

"I should have just finished you when I had the chance." Kallie said. "I'll just correct that mistake!" Kallie charged right at her to finish her, but she saw Lucy starting to glow like a star. "Whatever you're doing won't work." She was about to strike Lucy, but she bounced off against something.

"Your bubble magic is more troubling than it looked, but now it won't be a problem." Lucy said as she got up and showed she was in her Aquarius Star Dress. "I'm afraid you're all washed up this time."


	16. Time's Up? Revived Hope

Gajeel succeeded in defeating Foota and that means only five members of this unit remain. Gajeel dug around Foota's body and was able to pull out one of the keys. That means that there is only three left to obtain.

"Gajeel!" Gajeel looked up and spotted Levy being carried by Panther Lily.

"Levy? Lily?" Gajeel questioned as they landed down and ran to him. "Hold on, Levy. Don't come much closer. You don't really want to see what I did to this guy."

"Just tell me he's still alive." Levy said.

"Of course. I'm not an animal." Gajeel said. Levy and Lily had their doubts about that. "Of course, this guy is going to be locked up like one. I also managed to get his key and from what Laxus told me, Lucy has another one. What are you even doing here? This is the unsafe part around. Lily, aren't you suppose to be protecting her?"

"I had no choice. I couldn't turn away from her." Lily said as he shook a little.

"What's this talk about a key? I thought you guys were going after Natalia. Where is she?" Levy asked.

"Oh yeah. You don't know what's going on. I'll try to keep it short." Gajeel said.

…

Lucy

Lucy was at first struggling against Kallie, but she learned that water was the weakness of Kallie's bubble magic. Now that she's in the Aquarius Form of her Star Dress, she has a better chance against her.

"So this new attire of yours allows you to utilize water magic. Even that won't be able to help you." Kallie said.

"We'll see. At least this way I can just wash your bubbles off." Lucy said.

"My bubbles do more than make you look good." Kallie said and blew some bubbles right out from her hand and had them surround her. "Popping Burst!" The bubbles burst and created shockwaves to deal some damage around Lucy. Kallie used the distraction of her attack and get closer to Lucy to strike her. 'I'll just use my Bubble Body on her again and make sure she doesn't wash it out.' She thought. She reached out for Lucy, but she bounced against something and pushed her back.

"You really thought I was going to fall for the same trick?" Lucy said. Kallie waited for it to clear and saw Lucy surrounded by a barrier of water again. "Now that I know your little tricks, I'm not going to fall for them again."

"Try whatever kind of magic you want, you still won't be spared." Kallie said.

"I think I've heard enough of you talking. Say whatever you like, but it's not going to convince me to give up." Lucy said as she had the water from her barrier gather around her hands and released it all as an attack. Kallie got blasted by some water and she hit the wall. Kallie adjusted her glasses and was starting to get annoyed.

'This is taking much longer than I thought.' Kallie thought. 'That's probably good for when Natalia reaches the sea, but I'm starting to run out of patience. What could be taking so long?'

"I've got you!" Lucy said as she released more of her magic water, but Kallie moved out of the way and was running around the room. Lucy tried following her as she continued the attack and went around the room. It smashed through some windows and it didn't go unnoticed by Gajeel and the others.

"Hold still." Lucy said.

"I think not." Kallie said as she used her incredible speed and vanished and appeared right next to Lucy and drover her knee right against Lucy's gut. Kallie grabbed her by the hair to hold her up and smacked her across the face and knocked her to the ground. "Just accept the fact that you can't beat me."

"Not a chance." Lucy said as she tried to get back up.

"You asked for it." Kallie said and blew some suds from her hands and they all latched onto Lucy. Lucy tried to get them off, but her strength was already beginning to drain quickly.

'Calm down. I just need to wash all of this off.' Lucy thought as she tried to concentrate, but Kallie kicked her again and stopped her from doing anything.

"I repeat myself. Admit that you can't beat me." Kallie said. "You and your guild might have done well to last this long, but you just can't seem to win."

"I keep telling you that I won't give up." Lucy said. "From the very beginning, I was aware of how strong you people were. That doesn't matter to us."

"I can't comprehend this." Kallie said.

"We're fighting because you threatened a member of our guild." Lucy said. "It never mattered to us how strong our opponents are. It doesn't matter how many of you there are. As long as we have something to fight for, we don't care who our opponents are. We will continue to fight!" She used her magic and washed all the bubbles away and was able to still stand. Anyone in the guild would feel the same as her.

"You're all unbelievable. Is it masochism or are you all just this stupid?" Kallie said.

'I don't think I can keep this fight going much longer.' Lucy thought. 'I can't either way. I've got to reach Natalia. I have to put an end to this. It's now or never.'

"This battle is over!" Kallie said as she charged at Lucy and swung a kick at her, but Lucy rolled under her leg and avoided the attack with her changing her Tauros Form. Lucy grabbed a hold of her whip and had it wrap around Kallie's arm. "Now what?"

"You're right. This battle is over." Lucy said and used her incredible strength to pull Kallie closer to her and she readied her fist. "Lucy Gut Punch!" Lucy drove her fist in Kallie's gut and knocked the wind right out of her. Lucy twist and turned her body so she could slam Kallie right against the floor and finished her off. "My friend is waiting. So I'll be taking your key."

"Damn it." Kallie said before she lost consciousness. That makes three members of E.R.7. now defeated. However, this battle took a lot out of Lucy and she had to instantly change back into her normal clothes.

"Lucy!" Lucy turned to the hole in the wall she made and saw Gajeel being carried by Panther Lily.

"Gajeel! Lily!" Lucy said.

"Are you okay?" Panther Lily asked as he set Gajeel down. "We saw this wall get blown off." Gajeel had a look around at some of the damage that was done.

"Whoa! Did you do all this? No wonder Salamander tries to stay on your good side." Gajeel said.

"How did things go on your end?" Lucy asked.

"Levy stopped by so I had to drop her off back in town for her own safety." Gajeel said. "She wasn't too happy about that. The good news is that I managed to get one." He held out the key and Lucy was glad to see that.

"That's good. If this woman was holding one, that means we have three out of the five keys." Lucy said. "Although, while I was fighting her, I remembered something. While we're busy fighting these guys, Natalia is getting further and further away."

"So even if we get all five keys, it's not going to matter if we're too late to save Natalia." Lily said.

"Yeah. I haven't heard any big explosions so I don't think Natsu has reached her yet. We've got to be close to being out of time by now." Lucy said.

"You're probably right. We shouldn't be waiting around for the others to get the other keys." Gajeel said. "If they take her out to the Forgotten Sea, she's as good as gone. On top of that, Salamander is an idiot. He probably got so distracted or busy fighting someone. Maybe we're already too late."

"Don't even think like that!" Lucy said. "Natsu wouldn't get distracted like that when a friend needs help! We also have to try and think positive."

Sheesh. You think highly of that boyfriend of yours." Gajeel said.

"She has the right idea. We need to keep our morale high." Lily said.

"Yeah. I get what you're both saying. Lily, you go back to Levy. I want her protected no matter what." Gajeel said.

"What?! You might need me more than her." Panther Lily said.

"If anything happens to her or my child, I'm blaming you!" Gajeel shouted. Panther Lily didn't like it, but he understood why Gajeel doesn't want his help. He did what he was told and went back to find Levy.

"This is probably going to be a scary family. I understand Gajeel's devotion to be a good father, but I was trained to be a warrior, not a babysitter." Lily complained as he flew off.

"You better find the others. Since we only need two more keys, I'm going after Salamander to give him a hand." Gajeel said.

"In that case, it might be best you leave the key you have with me." Lucy said. "It might be better to have all five together since only one will unlock Natalia's cuffs and we don't know which one it will be."

"Sure. Keys are your thing since you got the other two." Gajeel said.

"Oh right! I still need to get hers." Lucy said and ran towards Kallie. "Where's that key of hers?" Sparing no time, Lucy decided to just try and rip Kallie's clothes to find it.

"Woo! Get it girl!" Gajeel said.

…

Natalia

"This is it." Sonder said as he with Rod and Natalia came to a stop after they just left a room. "Take a good look Natalia, this is the final hallway."

"Final hallway?" Natalia questioned.

"That's right. This is where your final moments of freedom lie." Sonder said. "This hallway goes underwater and reaches the platform behind the fortress. On the other end of that platform lies a boat that will send us out to the Forgotten Sea and all hope you have of being saved will be crushed."

"I've got to ask. Who designed the layout of this building? Why not have platform connected to the fortress?" Rod asked.

"I don't know! I'm not the architect." Sonder said. Natalia's end wasn't that much further away. She looked back as she still had hope that one of her friends would come and save her. "Just give it up, Natalia." Natalia turned back at him and he snickered at her misery. "Your "friends" aren't going to make it in time. There was no chance of them ever defeating the others anyway. Your fate was sealed the moment you betrayed us and there's nothing you or anyone can do now to save you. It's over." Natalia was starting to believe that. Once they cross this hallway, Natalia will soon be upon her demise. It seemed like all hope was lost for her, but what she didn't know was that hope was actually on its way. It was coming hot and fast like a fiery fast ball with a mighty scream.

"NATALIA!" That voice echoed through the whole hall and came at them like a strong gust of wind and Sonder couldn't believe it.

"Natsu!" Natalia said as she turned with much joy as hope was being revived for her. Sonder turned with much shock and surprise. Rod heard it too and actually grinned from hearing that voice.

"What?! What was that?!" Sonder said. "Whose voice was that?! Don't tell me one of them actually made it all the way out here!"

"It would seem so." Rod said as he started to head back down the path. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it. You just go on ahead."

…

Natsu

Natsu and Happy were finally able to get close to Natalia. Natsu and Happy looked down the hall and saw some light at the end of it.

"Look, there's light! We've got to be close to Natalia by now." Happy said.

"We are." Natsu said. "Her scent goes through that room." He kept going, but he caught the whiff of another scent. "Wait. I know that scent." Natsu got angry from that one. Natsu ran right in and it appeared to be something like a storage room with a bunch of crates and other supplies around, but had to come to a stop as he saw Rod right in front of him. "It's you!" Rod actually appeared to be glad that Natsu was the one to make it all the way out here.

"I've been waiting for you." Rod said.


	17. Pat the Iron Doors

Natsu and Happy were finally close to Natalia. He made it to a large storage room, but Rod was there and he was expecting Natsu.

'That's the guy that beat Natsu around back at the guild.' Happy thought. He took a good look at Rod's face and it had a sinister grin on it. 'I don't like that look on his face.'

"Natalia's been through here. Her scent is still pretty strong." Natsu said.

"So you finally caught up." Rod said with him standing in front of a set of iron doors and pointed to them. "You're in luck. Natalia's just beyond these doors, down the stairs, and it's a straight shot to the platform."

"So Natalia's just up ahead." Natsu said.

"Of course, you need to get through me first and I have every intention to not let that happen." Rod said.

"Natsu, we can't fight him for so long. Remember what Gray said." Happy said. "If they take Natalia out to the sea, we'll never be able to find her."

"I know. I don't have time to be messing around with you. So get out of my way." Natsu said. Rod surprised Natsu by suddenly appearing in front of Natsu and driving his knee into his gut. He gave Natsu a powerful punch and had him slid back a few feet.

"Are you okay?" Happy said.

"A lot more than this guy is going to be." Natsu said.

"Come on. I heard you're a dragon slayer. I'm interested to see what a dragon slayer is capable of." Rod said.

"You asked for it!" Natsu as he charged at him with flames around his fist. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu shot his fist forward, but Rod avoided the attack and gave him a powerful kick and had him crashed into a crate.

'This isn't good. We have to get past him fast, but he won't let us through.' Happy thought.

"Happy." Natsu said and got his attention. "I'll try and get past this guy. Fly back as fast as you can and get the others. Show them how to get here. We've got to reach what's beyond that point if we're going to save Natalia."

"But do you really think you can beat this guy after what happened before?" Happy said.

"There's no time to argue about this. Just go!" Natsu shouted. Happy could see Natsu was right and did what he said with him flying back the way they came. That just left Natsu to handle Rod and Natsu's been wanting some payback after what happened last time.

"Do you really think you'll save her in time?" Rod said.

"Just you wait. The moment you underestimate Fairy Tail was the moment you lost!" Natsu shouted. The two of them charged at each other and crashed their fists against each other. Two of both sides' best fighters are going against each other.

…

Erza and Wendy

Meanwhile, while everything else was going on, Erza and Wendy were still fighting Kaemin and Jaccu. Kaemin and Erza continued to clash swords against each other. Both of them pressed their blades against the other and tried to get the upper hand against the other.

"Time has got to be near over, Erza. At this point, there isn't much reason to continue fighting. Why don't you just give it up?" Kaemin said.

"You don't seem to understand what lengths Fairy Tail will go through." Erza said. "If it's to protect our comrades, we will strike down anyone. Even if you do succeed in executing Natalia, which you will not, we won't stop until we take our revenge."

"Hypocrite. Your guild might sound like valiant heroes, but it sounds like you're willing to become as dark and shady as we are." Kaemin said. The two jumped back from each other and faced each other again.

"Say whatever you like. Fairy Tail will go to any lengths for our comrades." Erza said. "Friendship and strong bonds is the foundation in our guild and it gives us the strength that will lead us to victory." The two charged at each other and started another round with metal clashing against metal. Meanwhile. Wendy and Carla were doing their best against Jaccu.

"Iron-Make: Mallet!" Jaccu formed an iron mallet and slammed it down on the ground, but Wendy and Carla avoided it. Carla cartwheeled and tried to kick Jaccu, but Jaccu grabbed her legs and tossed her back.

"Sky Dragon Wing Attack!" Wendy unleashed streams of lashing wind, but Jaccu was doing his best to block them.

"Okay. This is taking way too long." Jaccu said. "Why don't these little girls just keel over already?" Jaccu placed his hands together and was getting ready for another attack.

"Moo!" All of them were surprised by what they just heard. Taurus came out of nowhere and swung his axe near where Jaccu was standing and knocked him right off his feet.

"The hell? Is that a cow? Where the hell did that thing come from?" Jaccu questioned.

"It's Taurus!" Wendy said.

"Did you see me, Lucy? I think I deserve some smooches." Taurus said. Wendy and Carla turned to the entrance and saw Lucy was there.

"Not so much since I do have a boyfriend, but thanks for the help." Lucy said as she sent Taurus back to his own world.

"Lucy! I'm glad to see you're safe." Wendy said.

"I'm glad to see you're both safe as well." Lucy said. "I've got some good news. Thanks to Laxus and Gajeel, three members of E.R.7. has been defeated and we managed to get three keys."

"That's good. Where are they now?" Wendy asked.

"I don't know about Laxus and Gray seems to have vanished as well." Lucy said. "As for Gajeel, he's going to try and catch up to Natsu and save Natalia. Although….." She remembered how Gajeel's going at it. He turned his body to iron and just started smashing through walls. "His approach is a little on the simple side. How are things going with you?"

"Erza is still fighting her opponent." Carla said and Lucy saw what was going on with her.

"That just leaves us with him." Wendy said and they all stared at Jaccu.

"Another one? At least this one has got some looks." Jaccu said. "Either way, this is starting to become a real pain in the neck."

"You're outnumbered. Three of your friends have already been beaten and you're next." Lucy said. "Just make it easy and surrender yourself and the key over to us." Jaccu was weighing his options and thought of only one way he can get out of this.

"Fine." Jaccu said as he reached in his pocket and dropped the key to the floor. "There's really no point in continuing this fight."

"Wait. Really?" Wendy questioned as they haven't really come across an enemy that willingly surrenders.

"Yeah. I can't beat all of you, but you better hurry. Natalia probably doesn't have much time left." Jaccu said.

"He's right." Wendy said and ran over to the key, but the others found this really strange.

'This doesn't make sense. He had no problem fighting off Wendy and myself.' Carla thought. 'Is he just lazy or does he believe it's too late for us to do anything at this point?'

"Thank you." Wendy said as he reached for the key, but Jaccu had a sneaky smile on his face. He stomped down on Wendy's head and crushed her against the ground.

"Wendy!" Lucy and Carla shouted.

"You stupid girl. Never let your guard down around an enemy or trust them." Jaccu said.

"Get off her!" Carla shouted as she and Lucy went to try and save her.

"Iron-Make: Shotgun!" Jaccu shot pieces of metal and they pelted against Lucy and Carla to keep them back. Jaccu grabbed a hold of Wendy's neck and held her up. He coated his spare hand with iron and formed a metal claw to finish Wendy off.

"You should have just stayed away and played with your dolls." Jaccu said. Erza saw what was going on.

"Damn it. Let her go." Erza said as she went to rescue Wendy, but Kaemin stood in her way and kept fighting her. "Get out of my way!"

"You're not leaving until this battle is over." Kaemin said.

"And my mother wonders why I didn't give her kids." Jaccu said as he was ready to finish Wendy off.

"No! Don't kill her!" Lucy pleaded, but he wouldn't listen and was about to strike her. All three of them thought she was done for, but suddenly a flash of ice slashed against Jaccu and knocked him down and saved Wendy with someone catching her. Wendy opened her eyes and saw Juvia caught her.

"Are you okay?" Juvia asked.

"Yeah. What happened?" Wendy asked. She looked ahead and saw her savior.

"What the hell? Was that ice?" Jaccu said as he got back up.

"You got it."

"Gray!" Lucy said. Thanks to Gray, Wendy is safe and he returned to normal.

"I hope you're ready. Now that I'm back in the game, I've got a whole lot of payback to give you creeps." Gray said.

…

Natsu

"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu swung his leg down on Rod, but Rod crossed his arms and blocked the attack. He grabbed Natsu's leg and slammed him against the floor and tossed him against the wall.

"Don't tell me that's all you got." Rod said. "I'm disappointed. With all that fire and passion I see in your eyes, I thought you would put up more of a fight."

"I'm not even close to being done!" Natsu said and fused his flames together. "Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" He tossed a giant fireball, but Rod flipped back and was able to avoid the attack. "Something isn't right. Last time we fought, you didn't give me the chance to fight back. You're fighting differently this time." Natsu wondered why, but it soon came to him. "Duh. You're only stalling until it's too late to save Natalia."

"Maybe….or maybe I'm just trying to make your suffering last as long as possible." Rod said. Rod was starting to get on Natsu's nerves and it was getting him more fired up. Natsu was going to keep attack, but they heard something burst from above.

"Yeah!" Both of them looked up and saw Gajeel come right through and landed down next to Natsu. "I finally caught up to you, Salamander."

"Gajeel?" Natsu said. "What are you doing here? I don't need your help to take care of this guy!"

"I knew you were messing around. I came here because we managed to beat some of those other guys." Gajeel said. "Where's Natalia?"

"She's just behind those iron doors, but we might not have much time." Natsu said.

"It doesn't matter how many of you there are. I'll take care of both of you." Rod said.

"I got here first. So you slip past him and go save Natalia." Natsu said.

"Normally I would say don't tell me what to do, but we are in a hurry." Gajeel said.

"Here goes!" Natsu said was about to charge in, but Rod teleported in front of him and gave Natsu a powerful uppercut. He also spun around and kicked Gajeel in the gut.

'Whoa! This guy has got some power.' Gajeel thought as he really felt that kick.

"I told you that you're not going anywhere." Rod said.

"Quit getting in the way!" Natsu said as he tackled him and Gajeel ran past them. Rod saw what was going on so he pushed Natsu off and teleported in front of Gajeel.

"I forgot this guy can teleport!" Gajeel said and was met with a powerful kick to the face and pushed him back. Rod held out his fingers and used bullet magic to keep them away, but both of them avoided his bullets.

"Gajeel, go!" Natsu said, but Rod appeared in front of Natsu and tossed him to the side and slammed him against the wall. Rod saw Gajeel heading for the doors, but he cut him off again.

"You're not getting through." Rod said.

"We'll just see about that." Gajeel said as he coated his fist in iron. "Iron Dragon Hard Fist!" He slammed his fist against Rod, but Rod didn't move or even flinch. Gajeel couldn't believe it. "What?! I don't get it. That punch sent that cha-cha-chaing freak flying."

"I see. You beat Foota on your way here." Rod said. He gave Gajeel another powerful kick and knocked him off his feet. "But I'm much stronger than Foota."

'This guy is insane.' Gajeel thought. 'He's much stronger than any of those other creeps, but what's this strange enjoyment I'm getting from him?'

"Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu slammed against Rod with all his force and got him to move out of the way and tried to keep him pinned to the ground. Rod tried to get free, but Natsu wasn't letting go. "You're not getting in the way this time." Gajeel used the opportunity to run through the doors. "Gajeel, you've got to save her!"

"Just leave it to me!" Gajeel said as he made it right through the iron doors and was just a run away from saving Natalia from her cruel faith.


	18. Gray vs Jaccu

Gajeel was able to catch up to Natsu very quickly. Rod tried to hold them back, but Gajeel was able to get through. Gajeel pushed open the iron doors and descended down some stairs with only a simple hallway in his way from saving Natalia now.

"Good luck." Natsu said, but was given an uppercut and Rod shoved Natsu off him. Rod watched as Gajeel ran off, but he kept his focus on Natsu.

"Do you really think he can make it to her in time?" Rod said. "Once Sonder takes her out to sea, it will mark her end."

"Gajeel will make it. Natalia's going back to the guild where she belongs." Natsu said.

"You're so foolish. Sonder isn't much of a fighter so I say it's about fifty-fifty that he'll actually succeed." Rod said. "If he fails, I suppose I'll just have to finish the job myself. I'll just kill Natalia with my own hands."

"No way! I won't let you!" Natsu shouted.

"Do you really think you can keep her safe?" Rod questioned. "The rest of E.R. will just finish the task. When Sonder said that Natalia's soul is stich into our flag, you shot at it as a way of saying she's free, but the truth is that she won't ever be free."

"I've heard enough of all that!" Natsu shouted as he ignited some flames around him. "Natalia's coming back to the guild and that's all there is too it!" Natsu went to strike, but Rod was able to block his attack and wasn't harmed by the flames.

"Get real. Your flames won't be able to burn me." Rod said.

…

The Botanical Room

Almost everyone was gathered in that very room. Erza was busy fighting Kaemin. Jaccu tricked Wendy into giving her the key and when her guard was down, he attacked her and was about to kill her. Just when it seemed like Wendy was finished, Gray and Juvia arrived and saved her.

"Am I glad to see the both of you?" Lucy said. "I'm even more glad to see that you're back to normal, Gray."

"It was all thanks to you finding the answer, Lucy." Gray said.

"Yes. I figured out what you were trying to tell us." Juvia said.

…

Flashback

"I figure it out. Water. Water is…." Lucy didn't finish as Gray and Juvia saw Lucy being thrown back into her room from when she was fighting Kallie.

"Lucy!" Juvia said out of concern. "Did she say water? What was she talking about?"

"Wait." Gray said as he might have figured it out. "Juvia, try using some of you water on me." Juvia did what he told her and was able to get him back to normal.

End of Flashback

…

"I got that water was able to change my body back to normal. It's a good thing that worked or else I wouldn't have been able to save Wendy just now." Gray said.

"Yes. Thank you for saving me, Gray." Wendy said.

"I take it you were able to beat that woman, Lucy. Thanks for that." Gray said. "How many keys do we have now?"

"Three." Lucy said.

"So these two might hold the last ones we're looking for." Gray said. "You girls better go on ahead and try to catch up with Natsu to save Natalia. Leave these two to me and Erza. We owe them a lot of payback for what happened on their train."

"Hey! I don't like being ignored!" Jaccu called out. "I'm still standing and I can still fight. So you better take this serious or you'll be sorry."

"If I remember correctly, you use maker magic like I do." Gray said. "That means I'm the best match to take you down." Jaccu was ready to fight him, but he remembered where he saw Gray before.

"Wait a minute. You're that same punk from our train." Jaccu said and was starting to get cocky. "This shouldn't take long. You use ice and I use iron. Your fragile ice doesn't stand a chance against me."

"Don't be so sure. Ice can be pretty tough itself." Gray said.

"Yeah right." Jaccu said as he got ready to attack. "I'll smash it with your bones. Iron-Make: Rammer!" He shot his piece of metal at them, but Gray was ready for it this time.

"Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray formed his shield made out of ice and it was able to hold against the attack.

"What?!" Jaccu said.

"This isn't going to be like how it went on the train. I'm already in a bad mood because of another one of your buddies, but since I can't get payback there, you're the one who will have to pay." Gray said.

"You're little threats don't scare me!" Jaccu said as he went to attack them up close, but Gray grabbed a hold of him and tossed him right out the door and on the terrace.

"Hey! Watch where you're throwing people!" All of them looked and saw Happy flying into the room with him breathing a little hard.

"Happy! There you are. Where's Natsu?" Lucy said.

"Natsu was close to Natalia, but the guy that beat him around back at the guild got in the way." Happy said. "We need to hurry because Natalia is in a lot of trouble at this point. I can show you guys the way."

"Wait. If we go the same way you did, it will take way too long. Especially if Natsu is fighting. We'll have to work around that." Juvia said.

"If they're taking Natalia to the other side of the building, maybe we can just go around and intercept." Carla said as she tried to get up, but she was in a lot of pain.

"Carla?! What's wrong?!" Happy said.

"Don't put up such a fuss." Carla said. "I have taken some damage. It actually hurts a little to unfold my wings. I don't know if I'll be able to fly. Happy, you look like you don't really have much magic power left. You must have been flying around pretty fast."

"It's a good thing I saved Wendy. As long as we have her, Natalia has a chance." Gray said and was about to step out, but left them all confused. "You guys better get going."

"What does he mean? What can I do?" Wendy questioned as she looked over her list of skills. She soon formed an idea in her head. "That's it. Let's go!" Wendy got up and started running with the others going after her with Juvia helping Carla. All of them made it out and ran around Jaccu and heading up. "Hurry. I think I know how we can save Natalia."

"What are they talking about? Where are you even going?!" Jaccu said as he used his shotgun to try and stop them, but Gray formed a wall of ice and was able to block the attack.

"I'm your opponent. Not them." Gray said.

"You're all so annoying." Jaccu said. "You don't honestly think you still have a chance, do you? We creamed you guys the last time."

"That was then and this is now. Besides, you had the help of your buddies. You're on your own this time." Gray said. "You're learning the hard way that our guild takes revenge when you attack us and hurt our friends. Besides, we've got to save Natalia. I've got a hell of a lot of apologizing to do."

"Icy punk." Jaccu said. He was ready to attack him, but he noticed something on the floor and it was his key. 'My key! I must have dropped it when he tossed me out of the room!' He thought and tried to get it back.

"Don't even try it!" Gray shouted and got him to stop. "That key is coming with us." Gray walked over and to it and take it for himself.

"Fine. It's yours. Not like there isn't much you can do anyway." Jaccu said as he was admitting defeat.

"We'll see about that." Gray said as he reached down to take the key.

'I don't believe it.' Jaccu thought with him getting sneaky again. 'I can't believe how stupid these people are. He let his guard down.' Jaccu formed claws again and was about to attack Gray, but Gray placed his hand on the floor and swung his legs forward and he drove his foot right in Jaccu's face.

"Like it fall for that!" Gray shouted and knocked Jaccu down. Jaccu slid against the ground and nearly hit his head against the wall.

"Okay. That didn't work." Jaccu said as he got back up.

"Thanks for the key." Gray said as he was able to take it without any problems. Jaccu couldn't believe how stupid he acted to allow something like this. He was frustrated, but he wasn't too worked up.

"I was pretty serious. Natalia is just about done for. Even if you have the key, you won't be able to save her in time. Especially if that really is the key she needs to unlock her seal stone cuffs." Jaccu said.

"Well, I guess there's only one thing to do." Gray said and both of them seemed ready for a fight. "Later!" Gray took off with the key and Jaccu was astounded he's doing that, but also realized he has the key.

"Hey! You come back here!" Jaccu shouted as he chased after him. Gray rounded a corner and had his own sneaky smile. Gray used his magic and froze the floor behind him. Jaccu was going too fast and he slipped on the ice with him going off the railing.

"Ice Demon Zero Long Sword!" Gray used his demon slayer magic and slashed against Jaccu's chest and sent him flying to the center of the tower and he had ice sticking to his chest.

"That…That isn't stopping me." Jaccu said as he still had some strength to fight. Gray decided to finish the job as he jumped into the air himself and got over Jaccu and positioned his hands just right.

"Ice-Make: Gungnir!" Jaccu became in cased of ice in the shape of a scepter and was sent plummeting down to the bottom, his screams being blocked by the ice. The ice reached the bottom and shattered against the floor. Gray used his ice to slow his descent to the floor. Gray caused the ice to disappear and it showed that Jaccu was completely unconscious. "Your iron might have been strong, but my ice was stronger." That makes another member of E.R. beaten and another key obtained.

….

Sonder

"Hurry up." Sonder said as he was dragging Natalia up some stairs. "Hurry. Who knows how far behind those behemoths are?" Sonder pulled Natalia up and Natalia could see light at the top. They reached the top and they were on the platform at last. Sonder took a deep breath of fresh air. "Smell that?"

"Smell what?" Natalia said.

"Fresh air of course." Sonder said. "You might want to take as much in as you can. Your life is just about to reach its end. It might not seem like much, but look down at the end of the platform." Natalia did what was told. She looked down to the other end of platofrom. Docked there was a small boat. Small indeed, but it will lead directly to Natalia's death if the others don't hurry as fast as they can.


	19. Belserion

Four down and only three to go of E.R.7. remains. Gray was able to beat Jaccu and was able to get a hold of his key. Gray could still feel the force of colliding magi power in the levels above them. That meant that Erza was still fighting Kaemin.

"Erza can handle that guy." Gray said and looked further up. "Juvia and the others were heading up the tower and have three keys." He looked down at the one he had. "If this is the one they need to unlock Natalia's cuffs, I better hurry. Erza too. The guy she's fighting must be holding the last one."

"That's good. That means we're close to being done." Gray turned around and saw Laxus.

"There you are. Where've you been?" Gray said.

"Later. Let's go catch up with the others. Erza can handle the dude upstairs." Laxus said. Gray agreed with him there and the two of them hurried back up the stairs to catch everyone with else.

….

Natsu

While everything else was going on, Natsu was busy dealing with Rod. The problem is that Rod is the toughest out of everyone in E.R.7. Natsu tried to hit him, but Rod ducked to the side and drove his knee against Natsu's gut and sent him flying.

"That's it! Now I'm really getting mad!" Natsu shouted. "Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" He unleashed some of his flames and had them whip and lash at Rod, but Rod used his teleportation magic and avoid the attack.

"That's it. Keep fighting." Rod said.

"I'm nowhere near over!" Natsu shouted as he ran right towards Rod. Rod held out his fingers and used his bullet magic again, but Natsu was ready for it. "Not this time." Natsu was able to avoid each one of Rod's attacks and Rod was a little shocked by it.

'Has he picked up the pattern of my attack? No. He's just relying on his instincts.' Rod thought as he kept firing at Natsu and picked up the speed, but Natsu was able to avoid each bullet. Natsu was able to get close enough and gave Rod an uppercut and pushed him back a little.

"I finally got a hit on you." Natsu said. He thought he finally got a good hit on Rod, but Natsu saw that Rod was still smirking. "What are you smiling about? It better not because you think Natalia is still doomed."

"It's not that." Rod said. "It's that look in your eyes. You hold such a strong fire in them. I've seen that in a lot of people. Flames of emotion and passion. Do you know what I like to see about those flames? I enjoy snuffing it out."

"What are you talking about?" Natsu said.

"I've seen that look in a lot of people's eyes." Rod said. "Are you wondering why I joined E.R. in the first place. It's for that very pleasure. People who hold that fire like you are so optimistic, naïve, and full of spirit. Some people think it would be problematic if they're lives suddenly came to an end, but the feeling I get from it is enticing. Death's cold grip grasping them and the feeling of their bodies going cold is such a thrilling feeling. That's another reason I wanted you of all people here. I wanted to put that fire out. I just can't get enough of watching the fire in people's eyes go out. Becoming part of E.R. certainly helps with obtaining that pleasurable feeling. As for that whole thing about Eclear, I couldn't really care less." Natsu might not have been the brightest, but he could see what Rod was saying.

"Are you trying to tell me that the only reason you joined this place is because you think it gives you the right to kill whoever you want?!" Natsu said. The sadistic look on Rod's face was all the answer Natsu needed. "You're sick."

"Do I look like I really care what you think?" Rod said. "Bottom line is that you're going to die here. So you'll be joining Natalia company in the foulest pits in Hell."

"Shut up!" Natsu shouted as he went to keep the fight going. "You're not going to hurt her or any of my friends! I'm putting an end to this fight!" Rod was much faster and grabbed him by the arm and slammed him against the ground.

"Do you honestly think you can beat me?" Rod said. "There is nothing you can really do against me." He held out his fingers again and started shooting Natsu at close range. Rod holds a strong obsession with killing and Natsu is next on his list.

….

Erza

Erza continued her fight with Kaemin, but there was no way of telling how this fight was going. Their speed was incredible as they kept swinging their swords at each other. Both of them jumped back from each other and they both had sustained some injuries.

"I'm impressed." Kaemin said. "You still keep fighting even though it appears to be hopeless."

"You don't know if it's really hopeless until the battle is over." Erza said. Kaemin gave it another go and kept slashing at her, but Erza was doing her best to block his attacks.

"You can't keep this up forever, Erza." Kaemin said.

"And you think you can last longer than I?" Erza said.

"I am a member of E.R. and we bring down anyone who would dare stand in our way not matter who they are." Kaemin said. "You can say Fairy Tail will do the same, but there's a difference. We're willing to take lives!" Kaemin swung both his swords down, but Erza blocked the attack and she slid back. However, her sword broke and the blade fell right off. "Ha! Looks like this is checkmate."

"You are a formidable opponent, but this battle isn't over quite yet." Erza said.

"Going to pull out another sword? You can have a thousand for all I care, but it seems like the one that just broke is your most powerful." Kaemin said. "You also have exerted a lot of your power. It's all over!" Kaemin went to deal the final blow. He was ready to end her, but something stopped him. For a moment, it seemed like he was facing with a fearful beast instead of Erza. 'What was that? It was just for a second, but it seemed like there was a monster there instead.'

"Why did you stop?" Erza taunted. Kaemin shook the fear off and kept his focus.

'Stop it. You were just seeing things.' Kaemin thought as he was finding his courage. 'She's only playing tricks on you.' Kaemin took a look at both his blades and saw parts of them had some tiny chips. 'She might have plenty of weapons, but I only have these two and this fight is taking their toll on them. I have to end this.'

"You said you're going to finish this. Aren't you going through with it?" Erza said.

"Don't taunt me. You're asking for it." Kaemin said. 'Just to be on the safe side, I better keep a distance. I'll use my best attack: Ring of Guillotine. She could barely block it last time and now that she's close to me, she won't be able to get out of the way or block it this time. It will all over soon enough.' He thought and started to spin around. "This is where it ends, Titania."

"Ha. I didn't think I would have to use this against an opponent like yourself." Erza said as she smiled.

"What are you talking about?" Kaemin said.

"Do you want to know something interesting about me?" Erza said. "My mother actually created dragon slayer magic. She made it possibly to slay such mighty beasts."

"What are you talking about? That had to have happened centuries ago." Kaemin said. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"I'm getting there." Erza said. "My mother ended up with the same fate as Acnologia, but she was still able to give birth to me. It's funny. She left me in a small town and up until then, I never really thought about her. Then, when I finally met her, we were enemies on the battlefield. She was a formidable opponent as well, but instead of ending my life, she ended her own because she recognized her feelings as a mother. It was at that moment I recognized her as my own." As Erza was talking, she built some magic power around her broken sword and a new blade was formed out of magic power.

'What?! What's going on with her sword?!' Kaemin thought.

"I named this weapon for two reasons." Erza said. "The first was in her tribute for being my mother and for creating the power that Natsu and the others possess. The second was because she said a dragon once held this very name and he aided in that creation for he was a dear friend of hers. This weapon was designed to have the same power as Natsu." The blade was formed and had some black lightning coming off of the blade. In that, Kaemin saw what he saw earlier and it was the face of a dragon.

'It's the same beast I saw earlier.' Kaemin thought as he was getting afraid again. 'What is she? She's too dangerous. I have to end this now!' He was about to release his attack, but Erza was faster and slashed against Kaemin.

"Dragon Slayer Sword: Belserion!" The power in that attack was all it took in a single strike to bring Kaemin down as he dropped to the ground. "This sword was developed to fight dragons and dragon slayers. So imagined what it could do to someone like you?" Kaemin was taking deep breaths and couldn't believe he was actually beaten.

"That's some sword. I could actually see a dragon when you used that attack." Kaemin said.

"Well, for some reason, people do see me as some sort of demon when I scold them." Erza said. "They all get so frighten. I'm not really sure why when all I'm doing is show my loving care."

"You really named that after you late mother?" Kaemin said.

"Yes." Erza said. "Her name was Irene Belserion when I met her. She may have been my enemy, but I suppose I can't ignore the fact that she was my mother and she did give up her life for mine when she had the chance to finish me."

"A weapon named after your own mother that was once your enemy." Kaemin said as he was beginning to see the kind of warrior Erza was. "You truly are a noble warrior Erza as well as a mistress of the blade." Kaemin reached for a pocket in his jacket and Erza could see it was the final key. "As a fellow swordsman, from one to another, I admit to my defeat. This key is yours." Erza walked over and took the last key from him just as he passed out.

"Thank you." Erza said as she too acknowledge the skill and honor that Kaemin had as a swordsman. Deep down, Erza was grateful to her mother as well.

….

Natalia

"Let's go!" Sonder said as he continued to drag Natalia. They were halfway through the platform and was closer and closer to that small boat. "We're almost home free." Natalia couldn't believe it. She refused to believe it. This can't really be how it ends for her.

"No!" Natalia said and decided to fight herself as she stomped down on his foot. Sonder screamed and Natalia was able to get free and started running. She declared she wants to live. She declared that she wants to stay in Fairy Tail and that's what she's going to do. 'Natsu's just up ahead. He might be fighting Rod, but I know there must be something I can do to help him.' Natalia tried to run as fast she could back to the stairs, but Sonder was faster as he grabbed her by the head and slammed her against the ground and held her down.

"You are so going to pay for that one." Sonder said. "Why do you keep resisting? Your fate is sealed and there's absolutely nothing you can do, but accept it."

"No!" Natalia said. "This is not my fate. I know it's not. From the moment I saw that flag shot, I finally saw there were people that cared about me. No one in Fairy Tail would accept a fate like this. They fight until they can't fight anymore. If I'm really a member of Fairy Tail, I need to do the same. They're coming. I know they are."

"You are such a pain!" Sonder said. "All that useless babble isn't going to save you and they can't save themselves. Look around. There's not a single one of them nearby. Just give it up." Natalia wasn't going to. Fairy Tail is keeping her spirit high and if she is a member, she has to keep it high, but she could really use them right about now.

'Natsu….anyone…..please help.' Natalia thought.

"Iron Dragon Club!" Sonder was hit right in the chest by an iron club that neither one of them was expecting as it knocked him right off her. Natalia looked up and saw Gajeel has arrived and her pleads were answered.

"Looks like I made it just in time." Gajeel said. Natalia was so happy that tears were practically coming out of her eyes for one of her friends made it and saved her.


	20. Can You Save Them All?

Just when it seemed like there was no hope for Natalia as Sonder had her pinned down, Gajeel arrived just in time and saved her. Gajeel walked over to Natalia and helped her up.

"You okay?" Gajeel asked. Natalia couldn't hold back the tears of joy in her eyes. She believed someone in the guild would arrive to save her and Gajeel answered her cries. "What are you crying about?"

"Sorry." Natalia said as she tried to get her to stop crying.

"You don't need to worry. Everyone else should be on their way here soon." Gajeel said. Natalia took comfort in that, but she spotted trouble.

"Behind you!" Natalia said. Sonder pulled out his sword and was aiming to slice Gajeel right down the middle.

"How dare you hit me like that?! This will teach you not to meddle in my affairs!" Sonder said. He swung down his sword on Gajeel, but it bend and became completely useless the moment it hit Gajeel. "What?! My sword! How did that happen?! He doesn't even have a cut." Gajeel turned to him and had a dark look on his face.

"You should know better than to use a metal sword against an iron dragon." Gajeel said. He grabbed a hold of the disfigured sword and started munching on it.

"You're eating my sword?!" Sonder said.

"The shape doesn't matter. It still has some good taste." Gajeel said.

"Are you all monster?! How the hell did you even get past Rod? There's no way he could have let you through." Sonder said.

"What about Natsu? Is he unharmed or what?" Natalia asked.

"Salamander? He was still fighting that other guy when I last saw him. Salamander was able to hold him down for me to make it through." Gajeel said.

"Well, you shouldn't have any problem with Sonder." Natalia said. "He's the weakest member of this unit. He might be in charge, but he only got to where he is because he had so much money."

"You've got to be kidding me." Gajeel said. "Oh well. At least I got at least one good fight out of these guys." He popped his knuckles and Sonder was starting to get scared. "So are you ready to die like a man or what?" Natalia is safe now and this conflict is really safe to say that it's over.

….

Natsu

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu breathed out his breath attack, but Rod was able to avoid that attack as well. Natsu went in to try and give a good clean hit at him, but Rod blocked that attack as well.

"Just give it up. It's obvious that I overpower you." Rod said.

"That doesn't matter to me. All that matters is that I keep my friends safe." Natsu said as he ignited some flames around his fist and caused an explosion. Both of them jumped out of it and continued to face each other. Ever since Natsu learned of Rod's true intentions of why he became a part of all this, he wants to beat Rod even more now than ever.

"Is that the best you can do?" Rod questioned. "Do you honestly think you have a chance against me? I'm actually the strongest fighter in all of E.R.7. I could have been leader if I wanted to. The only reason I gave it to Sonder was because it was too much of a hassle for me."

"Do I look like I care about any of that?!" Natsu shouted as he charged at Rod again. Natsu kept trying to get a good hit in, but Rod was avoiding, blocking, and deflecting all of his attacks.

"You keep saying how you want to protect the people you consider your friends." Rod said. "Does it really mean that much to you that you would take on someone you can't win against?"

"Of course it does. I go to any lengths if it means I can save my friends." Natsu said. "I'm not leaving this place until I beat you and save Natalia." He kept trying to attack him, but Rod was able to kick Natsu and pushed him back some more. No matter how good of a fighter Natsu is, Rod seems to be even better.

"Your friends really mean that much to you?" Rod said and started to laugh.

"I seemed to have missed the joke. What are you chuckling about over there?" Natsu said.

"I'm just thinking." Rod said and looked Natsu right in the eyes when he said this. "What would happen if I kill everyone one of your friends?" That ignited a strong spark in Natsu. "Who exactly do you consider a friend in that guild of yours?"

"I consider everyone there my friend. That's how Fairy Tail is. If you think I'm going to let you anywhere near them, you better think again." Natsu said.

"So let me ask, do you want to save Natalia or do you want to go and save everyone. Is it one life or a hundred lives that you will lose?" Rod questioned.

"What the hell are you even talking about?!" Natsu shouted as he was getting more and more agitated by this whole talk.

"If I choose to let you go, who would you go save?" Rod said with a psychotic look on his face. "Your friends mean so much to you that I actually want to see your expression when they're taken away."

"I would save them all, you bastard!" Natsu said.

"I've seen many people like you, but none with such optimism as you." Rod said. "You obviously don't seem to understand how the world really works. Maybe some despair will have you understand. You can go save one side of your friends or Natalia, but you can't have it both ways."

"Shows what you know!" Natsu shouted. "I believe in each one of my friends. They're beating your friends as we speak if they haven't already and Gajeel is saving Natalia."

"How foolish can one person be? You really think you can save them all?" Rod said. "You can't expect everything to go how you want it too. Life just doesn't work like that. You can't expect to be happy all the time either because there's as much sorrow in the world as there is joy. So I'm giving you a choice to prove that lesson. Save your friends that you came with or only save Natalia. Whichever one you choose, I'll kill the other"

"This isn't some game, you lunatic!" Natsu said as he went to attack him. "I will never make a choice like that when the clear option is to take you down!"

"So you would rather kill yourself and have all your friends join you in the afterlife?" Rod said.

"That's not going to happen!" Natsu shouted as he was about to strike Rod.

"It will for it's obvious that you can't beat me!" Rod shouted as he was about to strike Natsu himself. Both of them having colliding ideals and the stronger resolve will be the one to determine the victor of this fight.

…

The Platform

Sonder was all alone now. It was just him with Gajeel and Natalia on the platform and he had nothing to fight with. All Sonder could really do is shake in fear.

"I'm a nice guy. So I'll give you a choice." Gajeel said. "You can just turn yourself in and get arrested or you can actually put up a fight."

"You….You stay away from me." Sonder said. Gajeel seemed to know his answer as he took a step forward.

"Gajeel!" It was faint, but Gajeel heard a voice coming from behind him. Gajeel turned around to see where it was coming from.

"What's wrong?" Natalia asked.

"I thought I heard someone calling my name." Gajeel said. He continued to look around and he saw caught it. He looked at the top of the tower and could see someone standing up there.

"What is it?" Natalia said as he looked in his direction. It was a little far and hard to see, but Gajeel tried to see who was standing up there.

"Is that….Wendy?" Gajeel said. Standing at the top was Wendy and she had a small sack in her hands. Everyone else was at the top of the tower after they managed to defeat all the others of E.R.7.

"Wendy, is Natalia really there?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. I can see her and Gajeel has her." Wendy said.

"Who would have thought he be her knight in shining armor?" Laxus said.

"Okay, Wendy. You know what to do." Gray said.

"Right. I can do this. I have to." Wendy said. She held the sack back and used some of her power around it. "Gajeel, I've got something for you!" With the aid of her dragon slayer magic, Wendy through it as hard as she could. The bag went flying through the air and it landed on the platform and was close to Gajeel.

"What's this?" Gajeel said. He grabbed it and opened up to see what was inside. "Sweet! It's all five of the keys that will unlock your cuffs."

"What?! Are you serious?!" Natalia said.

"Say what?!" Sonder said as he heard that as well.

"Nice throw, Wendy." Gray said.

"You did great." Erza said.

"Thank you, but I wouldn't have thought about this if it weren't for Gray." Wendy said.

"That was pretty smart of you to have Wendy use her dragon slayer magic to get the keys over to Natalia." Lucy said.

"Of course it was because he can do anything!" Juvia said.

"We're just lucky Natalia didn't leave yet." Gray said. "I knew Carla was hurt and Happy didn't have much power left to keep him flying. Since Wendy's powers use wind, I figured all she had to do was throw it at a high enough position."

"How can this be?! Are you telling me that everyone was actually beaten?!" Sonder said as he couldn't believe something like that would happen.

"Let's see." Gajeel said as he tried the keys one by one on Natalia's cuffs until he got the one that unlocked her cuffs. Natalia could finally move her arms and use her magic. "You doing a lot better."

"Much. Especially after this." Natalia said as she got back on her feet and held her hand to Sonder and he was starting to get scared. "Hand Vines!" Vines grew out right from under Sonder and wrapped around him with them having hands. "Slap!" The vines slapped Sonder around like a drumroll.

"Woo! That's handy." Gajeel joked.

"I've been waiting to do that for a while now." Natalia said. "Care to add the finishing blow?"

"Sure." Gajeel said as he readied himself. "Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel stretched out his arm as it turned into a club and it slammed hard against Sonder. Sonder was pushed down to the edge of the platform and was knocked on his boat with him out cold. "Man. That's a letdown for a guy in such big and bad organization."

"That's that!" Erza said.

"We did it! Natalia is safe!" Juvia said and everyone was happy about that, but Happy and Lucy suddenly realized something.

"Wait! What about Natsu? He had a head start on Gajeel!" Lucy said.

"That's right. He was still fighting that other guy when I left him." Natsu said. Natalia soon realized the same thing herself.

"You can relax now. You're finally free." Gajeel said.

"That's not it." Natalia said. "Gajele, you said that Natsu was still fighting Rod the last time you saw him, right?"

"Yeah. Why?" Gajeel said.

"Rod is the most powerful and the most deadly out of anyone here." Natalia said. "We've got to go back and try and help him." Before any of them even had the chance, an explosion in the fortress went off in the back and part of the wall was blown off. "What was that?"

"Salamander by my guess." Gajeel said. Natalia hurried over to the end of the platform to see what was going on. She waited for the smoke to clear and tried to see what was going on. She saw one person standing, but the other was against the ground and Natalia couldn't believe who the one on the ground was.

"Natsu!" Natalia shouted. Rod stood over what appeared to be a defeated Natsu. Has Natsu actually lost?


	21. Finale of the 7

Gajeel succeeded in defending Natalia against Sonder. He was able to free her from her cuffs and take Sonder out, but there was still one major problem. That problem was Rod and Natsu was fighting him all on his own. At the same time Gajeel was helping out Natalia, this was going on. Natsu and Rod continued to fight each other. They kept trying to strike at each other and they were both moving at incredible speed. Natsu was giving it all, but Rod wasn't bothered by him in the slightest.

"There!" Rod shouted as he gave Natsu a strong uppercut and sent him flying in the air. Rod used his teleportation magic and appeared over Natsu and slammed his knee against him to have Natsu crash into the ground. "You're finished!" Rod dived down and was going to use his hand to pierce through Natsu, but Natsu flipped back and avoided him. However, Rod teleported again and gave Natsu a strong kick that pushed him back. Rod teleported again and was about to strike again, but Natsu has just about had it with him. "You don't have the power to defeat me!"

"That all means nothing if I can't protect my friends!" Natsu said. Both of them slammed their legs against each other with neither of them backing down. Natsu pulled back his fist and readied to attack. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

"Like that will work." Rod said. Natsu tried to strike Rod, but Rod blocked his fist and was able to keep the flames away. Rod slammed Natsu against the floor and tossed him away, but Natsu slid on his feet and was able to stay up. Natsu has burned through a lot of power against Rod and Rod's hardly broken a sweat. He's just too fast and his attacks are more effective. Natsu looked up, but was met with Rod grabbing him by his neck and lifting his feet off the ground.

"Let go." Natsu said as he tried to get free.

"This fight is just about over. You did well to get this far, but you're going to die here." Rod said. "I can see your desire to protect everyone gives you strength, but that wasn't enough against me."

"I'll show you." Natsu said as he was able to plant his feet firmly on the ground and grabbed Rod's arm. Natsu spun around with all his might and went faster and faster with Rod going around and around. When Natsu built enough force, he tossed Rod into the air. "Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Natsu tossed the fireball, but Rod teleported out of the way and landed on the ground. Natsu didn't stop as he charged right at him to attack again.

"You're a quick thinker when it comes to fighting, but you seem to make stupid mistakes." Rod said. He held out his fingers and used his bullet magic and hit Natsu right in his shoulder and caused him to stop. Rod didn't stop as he teleported behind Natsu and shot him again. Rod used a combination of both forms of magic as he shot magic bullets from all directions around Natsu and there was no escape for him. Rod appeared once more and gave Natsu a powerful kick to cause him to slide back.

"Is that the best you can do?" Natsu said as he took some deep breaths. He tried to stay strong, but that was difficult to do against Rod.

"So you want something more painful?" Rod said. "I can help with that." He held out his fingers again, but this time it appeared a smaller flicker of a flame came around his fingers. "Burning Bullet!" The small flicker shot like a bullet.

"You're using fire against me? That's just what I…." Natsu was confident that it wouldn't work against him, but he was wrong. That attack hit and it felt like flames burst around Natsu and it actually hurt. It exploded around him and knocked him down. It appeared to be a losing battle against him for Natsu.

"Now have you had enough?" Rod questioned.

"Not yet." Natsu said as he tried to push himself off the ground. "Why did that one hurt? Fire isn't suppose to hurt me."

"It wasn't exactly fire." Rod said. "That last bullet I used on you was concentrated ethernano that was extremely heated and it took the form of a small flame. You're really a glutton for punishment, aren't you? Why not just lay down and save your strength so I can kill you? It be a lot less painful because it would be over quickly and you have less injuries."

"Keep dreaming." Natsu said as he was able to stand again. "There's no way I'm going to die here. My friends are waiting for me."

"Argh. I'm starting to get tired with your little friend talk." Rod said.

"Don't worry. When I'm done with you, you won't be able to hear or do much of anything." Natsu said. "I'm about to burn you down into a pile of ashes."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Rod questioned. Natsu was bringing out the very best of his power as the flames around him became intense. Rod could feel the heat, the power, and the intensity in the flames and could tell this wasn't going to be a normal attack.

"Let's see you dodge this! Fire Dragon King Destruction Fist!" Natsu unleashed the power in his flames that engulfed most of the room. That's what caused the explosion from before as the wall was blown right off. "That should do it. That finished him."

"You think so?" Rod said as he appeared right behind him and held his fingers against Natsu's side. "Burning Bullet!" Rod fired at point-blank range and caused a lot of damage to Natsu. Natsu was blown against the wall and knocked right down to the floor. That's what brought us to right now. "That was some attack." Rod didn't completely escaped unscathed. He had some burns around him, but he was able to avoid it. "You lasted a lot longer than I thought, but it's time to grow up to reality. You can't always expect things to go the way you want them to."

"Natsu!" Rod turned to the giant hole in the wall and could see the platform with Natalia at the end of it.

"So she's still around. I didn't expect Sonder to actually put up a fight." Rod said. Gajeel raced to the end and saw what Natalia saw.

"No way! Salamander's down? That bastard actually beat him?" Gajeel questioned.

"Natsu! Get up!" Natalia cheered.

"No point in cheering. This battle is over." Rod said and walked towards them. "I'll just have to finish it myself." Natsu was down and it didn't seem like he was getting back up.

…

The Tower

Everyone else heard the explosion go off and knew there was only one person that could have been responsible for it. The explosion caused most of the place to shake and was wondering what was going on down there.

"What's that fire idiot doing? Is he trying to bring the place down with us in it?" Laxus said.

"That's how Natsu is." Juvia said.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Happy said. "I think something might be wrong with Natsu."

"You don't think he's hurt, do you?" Erza said.

"No way. Natsu couldn't be defeated." Gray said.

"Shouldn't we be hearing Natsu cry out in victory or something? Something's going on down there." Happy said. All of them knew Natsu pretty well and could see what Happy was talking about.

"No way!" Lucy said and got everyone's attention. "Natsu could never be defeated when he knows that his friends are in danger. He'll win. The fight he's in isn't over. It can't be over." All of them knew Lucy was right and there's no way for them to believe Natsu could actually have been beaten.

…..

Natsu

If they saw the state he was in, they wouldn't think any differently. Natsu may look like he's down for the count, but they believe in their hearts that Natsu is still going to find a way to win. Natalia may not know Natsu very well, but she has seen his power and she needs to believe it as well.

"Natsu! Get up!" Natalia shouted. "You can't be done for! I saw you fight! I know how powerful you are! There's no way you would let Rod beat you! You're much stronger than that! So why are you just lying there?! Get up!"

"Cheer all you want. It isn't going to make the least bit of…." Rod didn't finish that sentence as he heard a noise behind him and it was starting to dry out his patience. He turned around and saw Natsu trying to get back up.

"She's right." Natsu said. "We're not done yet. I've got to keep fighting." Rod decided to just ignore him this time and kept walking. "Get back here."

"Our fight is over." Rod said. "I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill all of your friends. Some despair will do you some good. You'll learn how harsh reality can be."

"Shut up!" Natsu shouted as he slammed his fist on the ground and got right back up. "I don't care about any of that! Keep your lessons because you're not killing anyone! I'm going to end this."

"You can fight for your friends all you want, but if you can't overpower me, it's all for nothing." Rod said.

"I said shut up!" Natsu said as he charged right at him and tried striking as hard and fast as he could. 'I can beat him. I know I can. The problem is that speed and all that teleporting. I just need to figure out how to get past that.' He thought.

"Why don't you just die already?!" Rod said as his patience with him has run out. Rod pounded Natsu hard across the face, but Natsu grabbed a hold of his arm and bit his arm. "Petty fighting moves? Is that all you can do now?" Rod gave Natsu another strong hit and caused him to slide back. "You're out of power, out of strength, and about to run out of life!" Rod teleported again and Natsu looked around for him. Rod appeared right over Natsu and was ready to end this. 'I'm through playing around with him. It's time I ended this!' He thought as he was powering up another blast and was going to end this.

"No!" Suddenly, a vine came out of nowhere and wrapped around his ankle.

"What?!" Rod said. That gave away his location and Natsu spotted him. "You're still dead!" Rod was going to use his bullet magic, but suddenly some plants placed seal stone cuffs on him and blocked him from using his magic. Natsu knew this magic and looked to the platform to see it was Natalia's doing.

"Natsu! Now! Finish him now!" Natalia shouted. Natsu focused all the power he had left and was bringing it out to his limit.

"Fire Dragon King Roar!" Natsu breathed out his mightiest flame and blasted Rod with it and it was incinerating everything in its path. Everyone saw the flames shoot in the air and knew it was Natsu winning this battle. Rod couldn't handle all that power as he was shot into the air with him passed out. Rod came crashing down and slammed into the water. Thus, the final member of E.R.7. was beaten. Natsu exerted a lot of his power as he collapsed and rolled on his back. "I did it. I told that bastard I would do it and I did." Natsu took one last deep breath. "We're ALL going back to the guild! Natalia!" Everyone heard his call and signal Fairy Tail's victory. None was happier than Natalia for she was finally free from the fate of E.R.


	22. Natalia's Place to Stay

"Cheers!" Mugs were tapped and the scent of beer filled the guildhall. All of the members of Fairy Tail were celebrating over the fact that they won over E.R.7.

"Drink to you fill!" Makarov cheered, but most members don't need permission to do that. "Celebrate that we won over E.R. and rescued our fellow guild member: Natalia." Everyone was happy it was over now and their friend is safe.

"So you fought a stretching freak and that gave you trouble?" Natsu laughed at Laxus.

"Shut up. It's none of your business. Besides, you're one to talk. Look at those injuries." Laxus said and he had a point. Most of Natsu's body was covered in bandages after his fight against Rod.

"So what happened with E.R.?" Happy asked.

"Gajeel and Levy already contacted the Magic Council about it since they still have some connections." Lucy said. "Every member of E.R.7. has been taken in and will be joining some of E.R.'s other members from when we were in Enchant. What's more is that we contacted Princess Rose and told her the good news about what happened. She'll be sending some of our reward to us for it. Which is good because I need to make rent."

"I wonder how Platinum Angel is going to feel about this when they heard about it?" Happy said. "After all, they agreed to the job of taking E.R. down as well."

"Who cares?! It's time to party!" Natsu shouted as he stood at the top of a table, but some of his injuries stopped him doing something crazy.

"I know we're celebrating, but you need to take it easy before you reopen those wounds." Lucy said as she tried to help him down.

"What about the town? They made the mistake of going against us." Gajeel said. "I could probably arrest all of them for that."

"You can't arrest an entire town. Can you?" Gray said.

"I wouldn't worry about any of them." Erza said. "They only stood against us because E.R.7. was in control the whole time. When they heard they were defeated, it was like a huge weight was lifted off their shoulders."

"That's right. The town only resisted us because they were being force to by E.R. They were all just scared to defy them." Gray said.

"So let's stop worrying and let's have some fun." Levy said with a mug in her hand.

"Levy, you can't be drinking! You're pregnant!" Gajeel said.

"Relax." Levy said with an annoyed-look on her face. "It's not even alcohol. It's just juice." As those two were arguing a little, Erza and Gray were feeling a little sorry for both sides.

"It's going to be a long six months." Gray said.

"I think it's sweet that Gajeel cares so much, but they both should learn to take it easy." Erza said. Lucy was able to help Natsu down and helped him walk over to a seat at the bar counter.

"You're hopeless, Natsu. You can't keep doing something so crazy when you're injured." Lucy said.

"Oh my, Natsu." Mirajane said. "Even with all those injuries, you continue to be the life of the party. Should we get Wendy to have a look at you?"

"No. Wendy's been busy helping out a few of the others." Lucy said. She looked in Wendy's direction and saw Wendy was having some fun herself. "Let's just leave her to have some fun."

"I'll get you something easy to handle with those injuries." Mirajane said as she walked to the kitchen,

"Thanks, Mira." Natsu said. Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu and was real happy for him.

"You really are something amazing." Lucy said. "Not only did you defeat E.R.7.'s strongest member, but it seems like you freed Natalia from what she believed was curse. I don't think we have anything to worry about again."

"You really think so?" Natsu said.

"Yeah and she's got you to thank." Lucy said and kissed Natsu for it.

"It's true." Natalia said as she walked over to them. "It's not just you, Natsu. It's everyone in Fairy Tail. I really do want to thank all of you. You saved my life even if I didn't really deserve it."

"Natalia, quit saying stuff like that." Lucy said. "I also think we didn't give you a real apology for how we treated you."

"It's fine. I deserved it. I probably would have felt the same." Natalia said. "It's just that after everything I've been through, I never really learned how to open up or trust anyone."

"Don't worry about stuff like that anymore." Natsu said. "You're part of Fairy Tail. You're free to be whoever you want or do whatever you want here."

"Just as long as you don't overdo it like Natsu does." Lucy said with a nervous laugh since she knows him so well.

"I suppose you're right. So since you mentioned that…." Natalia leaned in and whispered something in Natsu's ear. Lucy didn't know what it was she said, but she saw Natsu's face turning red. Natalia backed away and winked at Natsu with a smirk on her face. "Think about it."

"Hold on. What did you say to MY boyfriend?!" Lucy said.

"Natalia…" Natalia looked down and saw Makarov wanting to speak to him and she noticed everyone was looking. "Do you think you're going to be fine now after all that has happened recently?"

"I think so." Natalia said. "No one has ever stood up for me the way all of you have. Since you're all looking, I want to say thank you to everyone who fought for me. That's the second time someone in Fairy Tail has saved my life. I…." "Hold it." Gray interrupted.

"Don't say something like how you're in our debts or how you owe your life to us." Gray said.

"It's true. We did it because you're our friend, Natalia." Erza said. "We would have done it again."

"You may have had a rough past, but you don't have to let that bother you ever again." Wendy said.

"Everyone in the guild came from a past they might be a shame of, but that's what brought us all here in the first place." Gajeel said.

"And it's how we all made the friends we would risk our lives for." Laxus said.

"Natalia, if we constantly owe something to someone in the guild, we wouldn't be connected the way we are." Makarov said. "Fairy Tail is more than a place of business. It's more than just a guild. It's a place where you can call the members family. There should be no owing or debt in family. You're now part of that Fairy Tail family. Embrace it because you are free here." Freedom, acceptance, being heard, the things Natalia lacked in her life. Now that she's in Fairy Tail, all the things that she never had is right here. She couldn't hold her tears back from all of this.

"Damn it." Natalia said as she tried to get herself to stop. "I just can't seem to stop crying."

"Let it all out, Natalia. You deserve it." Makarov said and no one stopped her from letting those tears fall. "Now let's continue to party!" With the words said, everyone continued on with the party and it seemed like it could go on all day. Everyone was having a lot of fun, but you can't really expect anything less in this guild. Natalia leaned against the wall next to the door with a cold drink in her hands and looked around the guild to see how energetic it all was.

"This guild is certainly unlike any I've seen before. They went through a fierce battle, but they're acting like it's already a distant memory." Natalia said.

"Quite the lively guild." Natalia got nervous once more for she knew that voice and the cold feeling she was getting.

"Kojishi?" Natalia said. Kojishi was just outside leaning on the other side of the wall. He's trying his best not to make his presence known.

"You can relax, Natalia. I'm not here to fight and I'm not here to take you." Kojishi said. "I only wish to talk. It's amazing that after a century, two units of E.R. has been defeated. Those were quite some friends you made."

"I guess I have. They're….real friends." Natalia said. "I….I….don't want to lose this place."

"I can't say about that." Kojishi said. "You're worried the guild might be destroyed just like your old home. That's another reason I'm here. I can see you plan on staying here. So I'm here to tell you the truth about why we attacked the island you were on."

"Wasn't it just because you thought Eclear could have been there?" Natalia said.

"Yes, but there was more to it than that." Kojishi said. "It's actually about your mother."

"My mother?!" Natalia said.

"The truth is, Natalia, your mother was actually aware of Eclear and E.R." Kojishi said. That was a surprise to Natalia for she had no idea.

"Was she…." Natalia couldn't really bring herself to say what she was thinking.

"No. She wasn't a follower or anything. She was looking for a way to destroy Eclear." Kojishi said. Natalia didn't know about any of this. "I don't know how, but your mother learned about E.R. and Eclear. She was using every resource she to find the location and make sure Eclear is never revived. We soon heard about her and were under the impression that everyone on that island was the same. I learned we were wrong when you didn't have a clue as to what was going on when you joined us. I heard about the relationship between you and your mother. I know it wasn't easy and I know she hated it herself. She wanted it to be better."

"Yeah." Natalia said as she remembered her mother's last few moments.

"She gave up her life for yours. If that didn't say she cared so much about you, I don't know what does. I bet she be happy that you're here instead of with us." Kojishi said.

"Why did you spare me that day?" Natalia said.

"Because of that very reason. Your mother gave up her life so that you could live. I honored her last wishes and allowed you to live a little longer." Kojishi said.

"You certainly aren't like most members of E.R. You're more merciful despite how powerful you are." Natalia said.

"I suppose I am." Kojishi said. "This is where we part ways again, Natalia. You can do whatever you like. Since you're staying in this guild, it will make you an enemy. So if we meet again, if we have to face each other, I will bring you down like any other enemy. You're free….Natalia." Kojishi has always been merciful, but that's also what makes him mysterious by E.R. standards. Natalia still had so much she wanted to know. So she faced her fears and ran out.

"Kojishi!" She called out, but she saw that Kojishi was already gone. She knew that when they do see each other again, they will be enemies, but this time she isn't frightened by it.

"Natalia, what are you doing?!" Natsu called out. Natalia looked back in the guild and saw all the friends she has now and that she won't have much reason to be afraid. Not as long as she's with them. She's finally found her place in the world where she is accepted as she took her first steps to her new fate. "Who wants to rumble? We can't have a Fairy Tail party if we don't rumble."

"Not with those injuries you have." Erza said.

"What are you talking about? I'm fine. What about you, Natalia? Let's find out how tough you are." Natsu said.

"With you, Natsu, I'm willing to get in some positions." Natalia said.

"What is that suppose to mean?!" Lucy shouted. Two units down and only two remain, but those are stories for another day. For now, Fairy Tail continues on like how they beat any other enemy with one more joining in.

Book 2...End


End file.
